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Blackberry Leaves the Smartphone-making Business, Becomes Security and Software Provider to TCL

By Jesmae Anne Aurita | Update Date: Dec 17, 2016 09:01 AM EST

Two mobile giants, Blackberry and TCL, inked their deal formally, ending the former's production of smartphones but remaining control and development in its security and software solutions.

Although Blackberry finally closed the negotiation with TCL, it will still serve its customers with quality Blackberry products, only that TCL will be responsible for the manufacture, design and distribution in the market and become a global distributor of new BlackBerry-branded mobile devices, Slashgear reported.

The agreement between the Canada-based mobile hardware company and the Chinese electronic company led to the introduction of the new DTEK50 and DTEK60 handsets which hit the market since August this year. These new mobiles are made and sold by the latter worldwide. Moreover, TCL will most likely make the last QWERTY phone modelled by Blackberry itself, the BlackBerry "Mercury".

According to Blackberry, Nicolas Zibell, CEO of TCL Communication, ensures consumer the quality support coupled with the Android platform. He added that, with Blackberry's smartphone platform, their position in the global mobile market will be strengthened by the partnership.

Ralph Pini, Chief Operating Officer and General Manager of Mobility Solutions at BlackBerry, gushed that TCL Communications had impressed them with their excellence in hardware design, development and manufacturing. He considers the deal a smart move since, teamed with their expertise in security and software and TCL's consumers' vast popularity and global reach, BlackBerry-branded phones will be able to serve consumers and be widely and globally available. This is an idea of reaching the top market and catching up other smartphone companies' success.

DTEK50 currently costs $299 while DTEK60 can be bought for $499 in Blackberry shop. BlackBerry-branded smartphones will be distributed globally except in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and Indonesia. Furthermore, TCL is now its exlusive manufacturer, designer and seller. 

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