Rumours are circulating that BlackBerry’s next smartphone will, for the first time, not ship with its own BlackBerry operating system, but rather with Google Inc.’s Android.
It would be a drastic departure for the Canadian company despite recent Android-leaning partnerships including offering Android apps on BlackBerry devices through the Amazon Appstore, making BlackBerry Experience Suite (BES) cross-platform, and several partnerships with Samsung in areas including security, enterprise mobile management (EMM) and a new tablet.
Reuters reports that, according to insider sources, the move is to reshift focus on software and device management. Despite two consecutive positive quarters, the smartphone maker is still struggling to gain marketshare, which currently sits at less than 1 per cent and announced layoffs as recently as last month.
While BlackBerry’s failure to attract a large market share is often attributed to the platform’s lack of apps, it is unclear whether switching to Android would remedy the situation.
According to Reuters’ report, sources say the move would prove that the BES12 mobility manager is able to secure as well as manage devices on other smartphone platforms.
Android will most likely be found on a new device that BlackBerry announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in March, which comes with a slide-out keyboard. Since its announcement, few details have emerged for the device.
The phone is expected to be released in the fall.
