BlackBerry isn’t coming to China anytime soon

BlackBerry CEO not looking to expand into China

By Williams Pelegrin November 17, 2014

BlackBerry Passport black lean — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Chinese market has expanded to such a size that, as a hardware manufacturer, ignoring it could end up being a mistake. While BlackBerry CEO John Chen readily admits it is difficult to ignore, in an interview with Reuters, he still has no plans of expanding into China.

For the time being, at least, BlackBerry seems focused on strengthening its presence in emerging markets where the company already has a foothold, such as India and Southeast Asia. “It takes too long to ramp up to a size that is even reasonable [in China],” said Chen. “Even if I have that time and money, I’ll probably have better returns going into a different set of markets that we are already in.

The underlying issue at hand is China’s maintenance of censorship through user data requests. With BlackBerry placing an emphasis on security and enterprise encryption, as highlighted by its partnership with Samsung, the company would find itself in a tricky position in certain situations if the Chinese government asked for specific data. In other words, according to Chen, there would be no compromise between requests the Chinese government could make and BlackBerry’s precedence on security.

Even so, Chen recognized there are “opportunities” for expansion into the Chinese market, though the CEO did not elaborate as to what that means.

Editors' Recommendations

Williams Pelegrin

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Williams is an avid New York Yankees fan, speaks Spanish, resides in Colorado, and has an affinity for Frosted Flakes. Send…

Mobile

BlackBerry rises from the grave: New 5G phone with a keyboard coming in 2021

BlackBerry Key2. Credits: BlackBerry official.

BlackBerry is the smartphone brand that steadfastly refuses to die. The presumed-dead name has been resurrected once again, this time by a new company called OnwardMobility. It will work with manufacturer FIH Mobile to create and sell a 5G BlackBerry Android phone with a physical keyboard, ready for a potential release in the U.S. and Europe during the first half of 2021.

You read that right: A new BlackBerry phone with a physical keyboard and 5G, running Google’s Android software, is coming next year. TCL Communications was the last company to produce BlackBerry smartphones. It did so under license from BlackBerry Ltd., which continues to provide mobile security services, but isn’t in the hardware business anymore. TCL let its license lapse in February 2020 when modern, Android-based BlackBerry phones became a thing of the past. Until now.

Mobile

TCL won’t make BlackBerry phones anymore, sending the brand back into limbo

BlackBerry Key2 LE review

TCL Communication has announced it will no longer be making BlackBerry smartphones, after taking over the dormant brand at the end of 2016, and bringing it back to life with a series of ever-improving devices. In a statement tweeted out by the official BlackBerry Mobile account, TCL Communication does not have the rights to design, manufacture, or sell BlackBerry phones any longer.

This means the BlackBerry Key 2 LE will be the last BlackBerry-branded phone produced by TCL Communication to be released, and it follows the BlackBerry Key 2, and the BlackBerry KeyOne. TCL Communication’s BlackBerry phones took the features fans of the brand loved — the physical keyboard, long battery life, and extra levels of security — and put them inside modern hardware with Google Android software. While not for everyone, they were successful with those either familiar with the brand, or those looking for something a little different.
What does this mean for BlackBerry?
The future of BlackBerry phones is once again unknown. While TCL Communication will not make another BlackBerry phone, it does not necessarily mean we will never see another BlackBerry phone. It’s possible the global license could be snapped up by another company eager to capitalize on the brand’s highly recognizable name. HMD Global, for example, has seen considerable success with the Nokia name since acquiring the license, while British phone maker Bullitt owns the license to make phones from brands including Cat, JCB, and Land Rover.

Mobile

Sorry fans, Blackberry Messenger for Android and iOS died May 31

BlackBerry Key2 LE review

The BlackBerry Messenger app, better known as BBM, shut down on Android and iOS, nearly six years after it launched to the tune of more than 5 million downloads in its first eight hours. The consumer version of the messaging service will stop operating Friday, May 31, confirmed through the official BBM Twitter account, in an emotional goodbye.

https://twitter.com/BBM/status/1134414361060155392?s=19