TCL will stop selling BlackBerry phones as partnership ends

BlackBerry Mobile announced on Monday that TCL Communication will stop selling BlackBerry phones after August 31, 2020.
 
BlackBerry Mobile said that they regret to share however that as of August 31, 2020, TCL Communication will no longer be selling BlackBerry-branded mobile devices.
 
Back in December 2016, TCL announced that it had obtained the right to develop and sell "BlackBerry" brand smartphones. At the time, it was considered an exciting revival of a long-loved brand, the BlackBerry.
 
Later, TCL successively launched BlackBerry KEYone, Motion, KEY2 and KEY2 LE and other BlackBerry brand mobile phones. Among them, the KEY series of mobile phones have attracted much attention because they bring the iconic design of BlackBerry (physical keyboard) to this world full of flat glass (touch screen).
 
Unfortunately, these nostalgic designs don't seem to be enough to revive BlackBerry phones.
 
For existing BlackBerry devices on the market, TCL Communication will continue to provide support for the existing portfolio of mobile devices including customer service and warranty service until August 31, 2022 – or for as long as required by local laws where mobile device was purchased.
 
In the statement, BlackBerry Mobile did not mention a phone system upgrade. However, some in the industry said that at least in the short term do not report too much hope.
 
Currently, BlackBerry KEY2 is still running Android 8.1 Oreo. Before the announcement, it was not possible to upgrade to Android 10.

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