BlackBerry is not having a good year it seems, as the company has been tanking in losses owing to poor software sales. Based on developing reports, it seems that the company is working on two new smartphones that will make their debut this year, but will the new phones be enough for the company to alleviate its losses?
The KEYone was earlier known to have the codename Mercury
The news of the two new phones in development comes from leaker extraordinaire, Evan Blasse who tweeted a rather direct text on his account, saying that BlackBerry’s next two releases will be codenamed Krypton and Juno. Now that TCL has complete ownership of BlackBerry’s activities, there have yet to be any other reports that suggest that the company has been planning on some major release.
After the acquisition, TCL has made sure to keep the BlackBerry brand active; and the KEYone, despite being a brave new direction in the current generation of the smartphone era, received sub-par reception from users and critics alike. The only particular feature that can be confirmed for both the Juno and Krypton phones is that they will both probably come with Android installed.
According to Forbes, BlackBerry’s order processing has been going down, with a decrease in 500 sales and conversions from the first quarter of the year. The revenue of the company has been on the decline considering that the company has spent more money on R&D activities alone.
These figures do show the company’s internal struggle with coming up with smartphones that are hits, when compared to the competition who offer all more than what the company is currently known for. Adding a keyboard to an Android handset nowadays is not considered remarkable by users’ standards, forcing the company to use exhaust its innovative talents and USPs that it is known for.
With the KEYone, BlackBerry showed that it may have been down, but it was definitely not out of the game. The KEYone was earlier known to have the codename Mercury and considering the weight of the words Krypton and Juno, the company may be expected to bring something truly ‘Super’ to the table; perhaps a power-packed smartphone for once, with the added reliability and security of a BlackBerry smartphone.
One of these upcoming phones could be a flagship by the company, but it is too soon to say now which one it will be. More information will probably be provided by Evan Blasse in the weeks to come, including specifications and launch. Hope fully, it should happen in time for the sales to affect the next quarter’s results in a more positive way.