From January 4, 2022, devices using the Blackberry OS will be unable to make or receive calls (including emergency numbers like 911), send or receive texts, use mobile data or Wi-Fi. However, this does not affect Blackberry devices running on Android OS.
The company reminded customers in a statement that it will stop running legacy services for its BlackBerry 7.1 operating system and earlier BlackBerry 10 software, as well as its Playbook OS 2.1 and earlier versions.
A steady decline in market acceptance of the device has been noticed since 2013. The company stopped manufacturing its own phones in 2016 and began outsourcing to other hardware partner companies. In 2021, it gave prior notice about this discontinuation.
While some experts blamed the stop of BlackBerry services on the fact that Microsoft couldn’t stand the market dominance of Google’s Android OS and Apple’s iOS, others say the company’s rigidity in adapting third-party apps, among other deficiencies is something to blame.
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However, Blackberry continues to run as a cybersecurity company having moved away from phones to become a software company that focuses on providing “intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments,” originally announced in September 2020 that it would be discontinuing its phone service.
BlackBerry phones were once status symbols among celebrities and Chief Executives and permeated many facets of pop culture. The brand peaked in 2012, but as technology moved away from the external keyboard of the BlackBerry and toward the full screen of the smartphone, customers abandoned the device.
Blackberry abandoning its mobile phone OS venture now, can be likened to the abrupt death of Windows phones in 2016 after running for six years. Half the time, experts predicted that it was bound to fail.
