Thursday, 14 April 2016 11:26
Posted by Ali Ahmed
According to South China Morning Post, BlackBerry chief executive John Chen talking with the Abu Dhabi-based publication The National, said that Blackberry would roll out one Android handset this year with a keyboard and one with full touch screen, however, he did not gave the timins of release.
The company's move came after it launched its first device running Android called the 'Priv', last year. Targeted for the high-end market similar to the Apple and Samsung, but it didn't work out as Chen himself accepted that it was too expensive.
"The fact that we came out with a high-end phone (as our first Android device) was probably not as wise as it should have been," Chen said. "A lot of enterprise customers have said to us, 'I want to buy your phone but US$700 is a little too steep for me. I'm more interested in a US$400 device,'" the CEO added.
However, the company is marred with slow growth in smartphone market and intense competition from different brands in the mid range sector.
According to The Motley Fool, BlackBerry's fourth-quarter earnings, this year was lower-than-expected as BlackBerry reported selling 600,000 devices versus analyst expectations of 850,000 units. Company's Shares also dropped by 9pc as well.
"While the BlackBerry brand is still strong and the value propositions usually have been centered around the best QWERTY keyboard, BlackBerry Messenger and secure platform, however, the conversation has changed," says Neil Shah, analyst at Counterpoint Research.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2016
Source: Blackberry to launch two Android smartphones, this year
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