BlackBerry to stop hardware development business, will outsource function to partners
CEO John Chen had said in May that the company was unlikely to continue designing smartphones in-house unless they recorded profits by September.
BlackBerry announced on Wednesday that it will no longer manufacture its smartphones, opting to produce its handsets by outsourcing instead. This move is in keeping with CEO John Chen's statement in May that the Canada-based company was unlikely to continue designing smartphones in-house unless they recorded profits by September, according to BBC.
"The company plans to end all internal hardware development and will outsource that function to partners. This allows us to reduce capital requirements and enhance return on invested capital," Chen said in a statement on BlackBerry's latest quarterly financials. However, it is unclear whether this means BlackBerry phones will no longer be released.
Once a leader in the smartphone market, BlackBerry has been unable to keep up with the likes of Apple and Samsung. In October 2015, it tried to venture into new territory with the release of BlackBerry Priv that runs on Google's Android operating system rather than its own BB10 software.
