BlackBerry clears air, says will keep advancing smartphone portfolio

BlackBerry is not backing away from BB10, the new post said.

BlackBerry is trying to set the record straight following the deluge of reports that it was closing the door on BlackBerry Classic. Marty Beard, the Chief Operating Officer at BlackBerry, has in a blog post said that the company’s latest “plan to keep advancing our smartphone portfolio” has unfortunately been misinterpreted.

“BlackBerry is not backing away from BB10. Our customers depend on the BB10 platform and they are the ones that drive our roadmap,” he said in the July 13 post, adding that the Canadian company was committed to “maintaining” BB10 software and “advancing it to be even more secure and provide even greater productivity”.

The post said the new 10.3.3 update, coming within a month, will focus on enhancing “our already-stellar privacy and security features”. He added that more BB10 updates are being worked on while the BlackBerry Passport and Leap are still available for purchase.

In an earlier July 7 post, Ralph Pini, Chief Operating Officer and General Manager for Devices, had said that the company will “no longer manufacture BlackBerry Classic”.

Beard chose to explain the unique device strategy the company was following: “It’s differentiated because it goes beyond just smartphones. Our view is that the rapidly growing mobile environment is quickly being encompassed by an IoT world that requires‎ both strong security and connectivity.”

The post concluded by adding that BlackBerry was not looking to fit into the “industry standard mold” because mobility has evolved beyond devices. “Besides our burgeoning enterprise software business, the new Mobility Solutions division has defined a strategy enabling us to agilely pursue opportunities in this new security-focused era.”