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BlackBerry CEO axes planned BB10 for PlayBook tablet

CEO Thorsten Heins said he wasn't satisfied with the experience.

Roger Cheng Former Executive Editor / Head of News
Roger Cheng (he/him/his) was the executive editor in charge of CNET News, managing everything from daily breaking news to in-depth investigative packages. Prior to this, he was on the telecommunications beat and wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal for nearly a decade and got his start writing and laying out pages at a local paper in Southern California. He's a devoted Trojan alum and thinks sleep is the perfect -- if unattainable -- hobby for a parent.
Expertise Mobile, 5G, Big Tech, Social Media Credentials
  • SABEW Best in Business 2011 Award for Breaking News Coverage, Eddie Award in 2020 for 5G coverage, runner-up National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award for culture analysis.
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Roger Cheng
Former RIM president and co-CEO Mike Lazaridis introduces BlackBerry PlayBook at the developer's conference in San Francisco in 2010. James Martin/CNET

The BlackBerry PlayBook will not be moving to BlackBerry 10 after all.

CEO Thorsten Heins confirmed that he had canceled BlackBerry's plans to bring its next-generation operating system to its tablet, which continues to ship and has developed a small cult following.

Heins said he wasn't satisfied with the level of the experience, and made the "difficult decision" to stop the company's efforts on that front and shift its resources back to its core smartphone products.

The PlayBook runs on a rudimentary version of the BB10 operating system. Both BB10 and the PlayBook OS are based on the QNX operating system. Heins said the company would continue to support the PlayBook's existing operating system.

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