Blackberry may have dropped its keyboard-adorned Classic handset, but it’s not giving up all of its old school identity just yet.
According to a report from Bloomberg, Blackberry Chief Operating Officer Marty Beard said the company has no intention of turning away from its BB10 operating system. Beard also said the company hasn’t ruled out the possibility of building another handset based on BB10.
The news follows reports at the start of July that Blackberry has as many as three Android-based smartphones in the works for release in the next three quarters. Blackberry CEO John Chen confirmed to Abu Dhabi newspaper The National in April the company is planning to release at least two new Android smartphones this year. Chen said one would include a physical keyboard and one would feature a standalone touchscreen.
At the time, Chen said the focus for any new Android devices from the company would be to provide mid-range devices. Blackberry’s first Android-based smartphone, the premium Priv handset, failed to meet Blackberry’s expectations for success in part because of its steep price, Chen told The National.
For the quarter ended February 29, Blackberry said it only sold around 600,000 devices. During the company’s most recent earnings call, Chen said that figure had dropped to just 500,000 units. In the three months ended May 31, 2016, Blackberry’s mobile segment brought in just $152 million in revenue, down from $190 million the previous quarter and $269 million a year earlier.
But even if a pure BB10 model is still down the road, Beard said elements of the Blackberry operating system live in hybrid form in the company’s Android devices. According to Beard, Blackberry has taken the best features from BB10 and worked them into its Android system.
Beard told Bloomberg the announcement for Blackberry’s next Android-based handset is “very imminent,” but declined to give specifics about the date or device itself.