BlackBerry doesn’t dominate the smartphone market they way they used to. They’re still fighting, though, and now it’s thought that they’re preparing to deploy a secret weapon.
An awkward-sounding secret weapon, really: a portrait slider phone that runs Android. Not one that runs Android apps, mind you — BB10 devices can already do that. They even ship with Amazon’s app store pre-installed. No, this particular BlackBerry would run the full Android OS, just like a Galaxy S6 or a Nexus 6.
Is this actually something that’s going to happen? Reuters says they have information from four sources confirming that Blackberry is “considering equipping an upcoming smartphone” with Android. In the smartphone world, dozens of things get “considered” along the way as a product moves from a concept to retail devices, and many of them don’t get past the idea stage.
If BlackBerry does plan on shipping Android, it may not have anything to do with trying to win back another 1 or 2% of consumers. It could be a move aimed at the more profitable enterprise world, where a super-secure BlackBerry Android device that’s easy to deploy and manage could stand out amongst a sea of similar phones.
There’s still a good chance that this device won’t land on store shelves any time soon. If it does, though, two different Reuters sources — people who didn’t have the original info about shipping Android — think that it could be the new slider that BlackBerry showed off at Mobile World Congress this year.
Now, BlackBerry isn’t afraid to try new things: just look at the chunky Passport. It’s been surprisingly popular, not by iPhone standards but the Passport has still resonated with a certain crowd and has been a brisk seller. But the Passport is at least based on a design that worked for BlackBerry in the past: a QWERTY phone with a squareish display. The slider they showed off in Barcelona? It was the portrait slider you see above.
With the possible exception of Palm, no one that has tried a portrait slider has come up with a winner. Dell tried and failed with the Venue Pro, the Pre faded into history, and BlackBerry themselves struggled to convince people that the Torch was worth owning.
A new device doesn’t have to be “the next iPhone” any more to be considered a success and generate healthy profits, but people do have to want to buy it. Do people really want to buy an Android portrait slider in 2015?
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