Blackberry's 5G Smartphone Plans Now Officially Dead

Blackberry mobile licensee OnwardMobility has announced that the company will not go further with its “ultra-secure" 5G smartphone development. The Blackberry mobile manufacturer had announced plans to launch a 5G smartphone with a keypad later this year after it ended support for its old phones that once dominated the phone market. OnwardMobility did not clarify as to why the plans for its next 5G smartphone were scrapped, nor did the company announce its plans ahead. Before OnwardMobility, TCL Corporation looked after the development of Blackberry smartphones.

In a press statement, Blackberry mobile licensee OnwardMobility said:

“We want to thank you all for the tremendous amount of support that you have given us since we first launched OnwardMobility. However, 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. 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."

The ultra-secure 5G Blackberry smartphone was touted to launch last year, but the company had to delay plans. OnwardMobility had claimed that the official launch did not happen as lat year as “2021 was truly a challenging year to launch a new phone". However, it reiterated that the plans were “not dead" earlier this year.

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In January, the support for all classic Blackberry and Blackberry-powered devices came to an end. It essentially means the phones will not receive crucial software updates, and users cannot use crucial services like calls, SMS, and emergency calls. The company had advised users to switch to newer smartphones. The company was even experimenting with Android OS but failed to gain an edge over the market. Blackberry launched Blackberry Key2 in 2018 with Android OS and a physical keypad. It even had dual 12-megapixel rear cameras and an 8-megapixel front snapper.

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