One of the most recognizable BlackBerry products will no longer be manufactured.
In a Tuesday blog post on the Waterloo-based company’s website, BlackBerry chief operating officer Ralph Pini announced that the BlackBerry Classic would be discontinued.
Pini praised the Classic as an “incredible workhorse device,” but said its age was the main factor behind the decision to pull it off the roster.
“We are ready for this change so we can give our customers something better – entrenched in our legacy in security and pedigree in making the most productive smartphones,” he said.
“I’m excited for what’s to come and looking forward to giving you a new and better experience.”
Instead, Pini said, the company will place increased focus on its BlackBerry 10 and Android devices.
Tuesday’s announcement represents a shift in thinking from two years ago, when BlackBerry introduced the Classic due to what it called strong demand from its customers.
At the time, company president John Chen told an audience in New York that he had heard a clear message that consumers didn’t want the company to “mess around” with what they liked best about the company’s phones.
Last month, BlackBerry announced that sales of its new Priv phone, which runs on Android, were lagging behind expectations.
BlackBerry sold about 500,000 devices in the first quarter of its fiscal year – about 100,000 less than it had the previous quarter, which was itself a 100,000 decline from the quarter before that.
Chen has said that the company will stop making phones altogether if they can’t find a way to make that business profitable.
With files from The Canadian Press
