The seemingly never-ending saga of BlackBerry smartphones took another turn today as it was reported that OnwardMobility (OM) have lost the right to use the BlackBerry branding.
Initially reported by Daniel Bader at Android Police, OM is no longer proceeding with the project after its license to use the BlackBerry name was cancelled
It was only last month that OM took to their blogs in an effort to convince anyone still interested that neither the company nor an upcoming 5G smartphone was dead.
What was of interest to me at the time, was that when discussing the new 5G smartphone, there was no mention of the word BlackBerry.
According to sources, BlackBerry is looking to further distance itself from its days as a smartphone vendor after selling the remainder of its mobile patent portfolio for $600 million earlier this month.
Way back in August 2020, OM promised a 5G BlackBerry smartphone during the “first half of 2021,” and also back in August 2020, we asked if OM would learn from past BlackBerry smartphone failures, and sadly, they didn’t.
Sources state that BlackBerry CEO John Chen’s change of heart regarding putting the BlackBerry brand on a smartphone again, along with continued delays related to the supply chain, were major factors in his decision to “pull support for the project.”
It should be highlighted that, at this juncture, this news has not been officially confirmed. We have reached out to OM for comment and will update this article if we receive any.
