It's been a while since we've seen any new BlackBerry phones made by TCL, and now it seems unlikely that we'll ever see another one again.
TCL announced today that it will stop selling BlackBerry-branded smartphones as of August 31, 2020. After that date, TCL will no longer have the rights to design, manufacture, or sell any new BlackBerry devices.
The company does promise that it will provide support for its existing BlackBerry phones through August 31, 2022. That support will include customer service and warranty service.
The BlackBerry phones made by TCL include the BlackBerry KEYone, the Motion, the Key2, and the Key2 LE.
Despite today's news, BlackBerry smartphones may not be entirely dead. There's a chance that BlackBerry could strike a new agreement with another company to make and sell smartphones with the once-ubiquitous brand.
While most of the BlackBerry phones made by TCL did have a very "BlackBerry" form factor that included a physical keyboard, though, the devices never really seemed to be huge hits. And so we'll just have to wait and see if another company will pick up the BlackBerry torch or if the smartphone brand is finally done.
— BlackBerry Mobile (@BBMobile) February 3, 2020
