BlackBerry's 5G Phone Is Officially Dead
OnwardMobility is shutting down.
- I've been covering technology and mobile for 12 years, first as a telecommunications reporter and assistant editor at ZDNet in Australia, then as CNET's West Coast head of breaking news, and now in the Thought Leadership team.
BlackBerry fans won't get a 5G phone after all.
The delayed 5G BlackBerry phone is dead, OnwardMobility has confirmed on its website.
"It is with great sadness that we announce that OnwardMobility will be shutting down, and we will no longer be proceeding with the development of an ultra-secure smartphone with a physical keyboard," OnwardMobility said in a message posted Friday, as spotted earlier by CrackBerry. "Please know that this was not a decision that we made lightly or in haste. We share your disappointment in this news and assure you this is not the outcome we worked and hoped for."
Android Police and CrackBerry originally reported earlier in February that the phone had been canceled. Texas-based startup OnwardMobility, which sought to revitalize the iconic BlackBerry brand through an Android-based, next-gen Wi-Fi device, lost the license from BlackBerry Ltd. to use the name, the outlets said.
OnwardMobility didn't expand on why it's shutting down and canceling production of the phone.
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BlackBerry ended service for its legacy devices in early January, and OnwardMobility promised an update about the phone in a blog post last month titled Contrary to popular belief, we are not dead.
Before OnwardMobility picked up the license, Chinese manufacturer TCL was the most recent maker of BlackBerry-branded phones. It released the BlackBerry KeyTwo in 2018, along with other devices that ran on Android. However, TCL has since moved on to releasing its own midrange phones.
BlackBerry didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
