The iconic black phone with its QWERTY keypad is officially decommissioned. Tuesday marks the end of an era, classic Blackberry devices running on the company's operating system will no longer work.
In a statement released on 22 December, the company reminded users of the development, which will affect services for all of its devices not running on Android software, including the BlackBerry 10, 7.1 OS and earlier.
“As a reminder, the legacy services for BlackBerry 7.1 OS and earlier, BlackBerry 10 software, BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1 and earlier versions, will no longer be available after January 4, 2022. 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 9-1-1 functionality.” the statement said.
Boasting a physical keyboard and BBM instant messaging, BlackBerry was once a powerplayer in the cell phone world. In the first decade of the 2000s, the devices were carried with pride by white-collar professionals and the then President Barack Obama.
At its peak in 2009 and 2010, BlackBerry owned nearly 20% of the global smartphone market, with an even higher percentage in the US, selling more than 50m smartphones a year. But with the rise of the iPhone and Android touchscreen devices, the phone eventually fell out of style.
When the iPhone first launched in June 2007, it didn’t immediately overtake BlackBerry’s reign. With an elite status and user-friendly reputation, businesspeople especially, stayed loyal to the product. BlackBerry’s BBM instant messaging system also remained a user favorite feature, boasting the same cachet and ease of popular messaging apps.
Soon, though, BlackBerry’s technology fell behind and users began to make the move away from physical keyboards. BlackBerry launched a series of poorly received devices as the iPhone leveled up and Androids became viable alternatives. After the release of the iPhone 4, Apple’s phone sales passed BlackBerry’s for good.
By the time BlackBerry’s technology began to catch up, it was out of fashion. Working professionals, one of BlackBerry’s core customer bases, began to make the switch to iPhones and Androids. In September 2012, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer snubbed the devices by asking that employees transition “from BlackBerries to smartphones”.
By 2016, BlackBerry announced it would outsource its product and no longer manufacture its own phones. Instead, the company made a move to pivot into software, similar to Nokia, another former cellular giant.
Today, Blackberry has pivoted to become a cybersecurity firm, netting around a billion dollars in revenue in 2020.