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BlackBerry will release two mid-range Android smartphones later this year

By Cookie Monster - on 11 Apr 2016, 12:30am

BlackBerry will release two mid-range Android smartphones later this year

 

Four months after stating his intentions to focus on the high-end market, BlackBerry CEO John Chen has reversed his decision and would focus instead on the mid-range market segment.

Chen reportedly told The National that BlackBerry will release two mid-range Android smartphones later this year. One will come with a physical keyboard while the other sports a full touchscreen. The change in decision came after enterprise customers told Chen that the BlackBerry Priv "was too high-end a product". 

“The fact that we came out with a high end phone [as our first Android device] was probably not as wise as it should have been," Mr Chen said during a visit to Abu Dhabi. “A lot of enterprise customers have said to us, ‘I want to buy your phone but $700 is a little too steep for me. I’m more interested in a $400 device’."

He also reiterated that the company will continue to release updates for BlackBerry 10 (BB10) although there are no plans at the moment to release devices running the platform. Chen wrote in a blog post in January that the company remains committed to BB10

Source: The National via Engadget

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