The BlackBerry KeyOne won’t be the only new BlackBerry-branded Android phone in 2017.
TCL is planning to debut up to three BlackBerry Android phones in 2017, TCL Communication CEO Nicolas Zibell has revealed. Zibell didn’t divulge much else about his company’s BlackBerry plans, but a source speaking to CNET claims that TCL is prepping a full-touch BlackBerry that’s similar in style to the DTEK50 and DTEK60, though TCL will likely ditch the DTEK brand.
While BlackBerry may not be the smartphone giant that it once was, the “BlackBerry” name still carries a lot of weight. That’s why it’s not surprising to hear that TCL is planning to use that name to launch more devices.
It remains to be seen what the third kind of BlackBerry that TCL might release in 2017 will look like, but with a keyboarded model in the KeyOne, we could see a higher-end full-touch device and then a more affordable one to complement it.
Zibell also teased that TCL might resurrect the Palm brand, which TCL bought in early 2015. (TCL doesn’t own webOS, though; LG does.)
When asked about the Palm brand, Zibell said, “We don’t do things by mistake. Stay tuned.” He then added that TCL is focused on BlackBerry this year, though, so we may not see a new Palm-branded device from TCL until 2018.
