Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
After dominating the global phones market in the early 2010s, BlackBerry legacy services for BlackBerry 7.1 operating system and earlier, BlackBerry 10 software, BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1 and earlier versions are no longer working.
As reported by Business Post in 2019, all BlackBerry devices running legacy software and services may no longer be able to perform basic functions such as making phone calls, sending text messages, or calling any emergency numbers from January 4 (today).
Users will also not be able to access data through either Wi-Fi or their carrier.
BlackBerry’s best Android phones, on the other hand, will continue to work after the EOL date. However, if you’re still receiving redirected emails sent to an email address hosted by BlackBerry, you’ll need to shift to a new email address.
BlackBerry, which dominated the US market before Apple launched the iPhone in 2007, is now primarily a “cybersecurity company.” Just a few months after TCL announced the BlackBerry Key2 LE, BlackBerry completed its $1.4 billion acquisition of AI cybersecurity company Cylance.
Back in August 2020, the BlackBerry brand was licensed by a Texas startup called OnwardMobility.
The startup had promised to launch a new Android-powered BlackBerry phone with a QWERTY keyboard and 5G support in 2021, but we haven’t heard anything about the device since it launched a “pre-commitment” programme.
BlackBerry was an early leader in the smartphone industry but stopped making its own phones in 2016 when it began working with other companies like TCL for hardware-related products and with the end of the partnership, BlackBerry phones mark the end of an era for a smartphone brand that once claimed 20 per cent of the global phone market.
The decision to partner with TCL Communication came when BlackBerry recorded falling phone sales as the market became saturated with new mobile phone players who brought new smartphones.
It was also revealed that BlackBerry did not latch onto the touchscreen design on time and this led it to lose out to Apple’s iPhone, Samsung’s Galaxy and other Android devices.
