BlackBerry Tops 5 Mln Subscribers

By Geoff Duncan April 7, 2006

In its report for its 2006 fiscal year, Canada’s Research in Motion reports that the company earned more than $2 billion in revenue during the fiscal year, and, despite uncertainties surrounding the company’s bitter, long-running battle with patent holding company NTP, the subscriber base for the company’s signature BlackBerry wireless service grew to over 5 million.

“Our strong market position together with our continuing technology leadership and our unique ability to provide customers and partners with a comprehensive wireless solution presents great opportunity for RIM in the new fiscal year,” said Jim Balsillie, RIM’s Chairman and Co-CEO.

Investors apparently were unconvinced: the company’s lower-than-expected fourth-quarter profit and first-quarter outlook caused RIM shares to sink in Friday trading. The company’s revenues rose 39 percent year-to-year with a net income of $18.2 million

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Mobile

The BlackBerry Key2 shows why software updates really matter

BlackBerry Key2 keyboard.

When BlackBerry shut down crucial services for its old operating system at the beginning of the year, I had a sudden nostalgic urge to take out the Android-based BlackBerry Key2 and see how it performs in 2022. After all, there isn’t much like it these days, and perhaps for all those coming from a now-dead BlackBerry Curve or a Q10 may be considering a jump over to one?

What I discovered is that although the phone may not have been affected by the Blackberry services shutdown, it’s hobbled by something far more insidious: A complete lack of Android updates.
Desirable hardware
The first hour or so with it reminded me what an utter delight the BlackBerry Key2 is, as a phone. It’s almost nothing like any other mainstream phone you can buy today due to the physical keyboard under the screen, which remains a marvel to use. However, it really needs a lot of getting used to. I spent time training myself to type at a sensible speed when the Key2 was released, but my finger muscles have forgotten all that, so I stiffly tapped out words at a snail’s pace for a start.

Mobile

A new BlackBerry with a keyboard is still on the schedule for 2022

BlackBerry Key2 LE review

A new BlackBerry phone is still in the cards for 2022, according to hardware partner OnwardMobility. Following a breakup with TCL in 2020, BlackBerry partnered with the little-known Texas company OnwardMobility to launch a new phone in 2021. After missing that launch period, the Onward Mobility team shared an update this week, letting BlackBerry enthusiasts know that their phone was still coming.

"Everyone has eagerly awaited additional information following our last announcement, but 2021 was truly a challenging year to launch a new phone, much less one with the high expectations we set and the fact that we want to get it right!" the OnwardMobility team wrote, "While we encountered various delays that prevented us from shipping in 2021, we will be providing more regular updates starting this month that will clarify and answer many of your questions about the ultra-secure 5G enterprise smartphone (still with a keyboard!) we’re bringing to market."

Mobile

Classic BlackBerries are finally losing suppport as company shuts down services

BlackBerry Key2. Credits: BlackBerry official.

After kickstarting the smartphone era, BlackBerry's classic devices and services are finally shutting down. No, not the Android-powered modern BlackBerries such as the KeyOne, Key2, and Key2 LE, but anything that ran a BlackBerry-branded operating system. Whether this is a classic QWERTY keyboard powered by BlackBerry 7, or the iPhone-inspired BlackBerry 10, or even the forgotten BlackBerry PlayBook OS -- it's all shutting down this month.
"As another milestone in the BlackBerry journey, we will be taking steps to decommission the legacy services for BlackBerry 7.1 OS and earlier, BlackBerry 10 software, BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1, and earlier versions, with an end of life or termination date of January 4, 2022," the company announced. "As of this date, devices running these legacy services and software through either carrier or Wi-Fi connections will no longer reliably function, including for data, phone calls, SMS, and 911 functionality. We have chosen to extend our service until then as an expression of thanks to our loyal partners and customers."
BlackBerry bids farewell to its longtime customers. Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends
It's the end of an era for what was once a distinguished product that defined the market a decade ago. Even predating iMessage, the BlackBerry instant messaging service -- BBM -- was a great selling point for the product line. As iOS, Android, and WhatsApp began to dominate, BlackBerry devices began to fall by the wayside.
The company tried to rejuvenate its smartphone business by launching its own touchscreen phones and later its own operating system in 2013, but had little success. Unable to keep up,ity stopped the creation of smartphones in 2016 and licensed services to TCL Ltd. between 2016 to 2020. BlackBerry promised to launch a smartphone by the end of 2021 in partnership with OnwardMobility, but that hasn't panned out.
The company has now shifted its focus to selling software. It briefly had a nostalgia-fueled increase in its share price this year, which later nearly returned to its original price. While the market has been saturated with multiple companies claiming a stake in the smartphone pie, hopefully, BlackBerry manages to return to some form of relevance with its current partnership.