BlackBerry today announced its Q4 FY2014 financial results. The struggling company recorded another loss and revealed that it had only sold 1.3 million BlackBerry smartphones during the quarter. Despite this disappointing news, BlackBerry CEO John Chen reconfirmed once more that the company will remain in the hardware business and is planning to release up to three new high-end smartphones over the next 18 months. They will target “keyboard aficionados.”
BlackBerry has already announced the BlackBerry Q20. It is expected to launch in the fall timeframe. Featuring the classic function keys, ‘Menu,’ ‘Back,’ ‘Send’ and ‘End,’ and trackpad, the BlackBerry Q20, or “The Classic” as Chen likes to call it, will help bridge the divide between the older BlackBerry 7 devices and new BlackBerry 10 ones.
As for the other devices, Chen revealed little but a number of device codenames were found in a leaked BlackBerry 10.3 build, giving us some hints as to what they could be. Among them could be the BlackBerry Ontario, a touchscreen device with a 5-inch display, the BlackBerry Windermere which could sport a new three-row keyboard and the Porsche Design P’9983 which is codenamed Khan.
Chen also confirmed that BlackBerry will release an LTE version of the BlackBerry Z3. It would not be a surprise to see it land in North America as the replacement for the BlackBerry Z10.
Acknowledging that BlackBerry 7 devices are still outselling BlackBerry 10 ones, BlackBerry will also restart production of the Bold 9900, one of its most successful devices.
Source : Reuters
While I enjoy my Zed10, I find it hard to put down my Porsche design p’9981. I overlooked the p’9982, due to one main reason: IT IS A ZED10 AHHHHH!! The Zed10 is great for BB10: can you really enjoy an OS designed for touch on a QWERTY? I haven’t put my hands on a Q10 yet. Maybe Porsche Design will delight its customers, well those who don’t mind slingshotting ~1700usd at a register or online checkout. A small group indeed. Keep it up
If you’re on the fence about the BlackBerry Q10, have a look at our review