We all know how BlackBerry has suffered over the course of last few years at the hands of smartphones and how it has struggled to stay in the market that was once owned by the firm. Now BlackBerry has launched the BlackBerry Classic which is based on the Bold phone, which was quite successful. The firm hopes that the loyal customers will help them in saving its reputation.
The loyal customers of BlackBerry include Barack Obama and Kim Kardashian as well. The BlackBerry Classic costs $450 and is focused on keyboard, battery life and security as opposed to camera, screen and apps. The main target of this phone is the business lot.
CEO John Chen said the following at the launch event that was held in New York City’s Financial District, “A lot of people say the Classic is aiming for loyal customers. And that is true.” However, a lot of young folks were invited as well to try the BlackBerry Classic. Kardashian West was reported admitting the following at the Code Mobile conference that was held earlier in 2014, “I love a BlackBerry. Every time I say that, people are horrified that I have a BlackBerry, and I don’t understand that reaction. BlackBerry has my heart and soul, I’ll never get rid of it,” she said. “I do have an iPhone, and I use that for photos, but if you have an email and you need to type fast, you need to have that keyboard.”
John Chen, however, was clear that he is not interested in getting a reality TV celebrity on board. He said, “I’m not into bringing celebrities on board. It’s not that it’s a waste of money but a question of where you should spend the money today.”
BlackBerry has been working on bringing mobile-security software on the competition’s smartphones and tablets and has also partnered up with Foxconn – Taiwanese company that carries out assembling of products in big factories of China.
Chen took over the firm as CEO about 13 months ago and has his eyes set on the goal of selling 10 million phones per year. Do you think BlackBerry can meet this goal considering that Apple sold 39.3 million iPhones in only 3 months in 3rd quarter?
