BlackBerry is not backing away from its BB10 platform, the company said in a blog post today. Company COO, Marty Beard, wrote in the post, that the company isn’t just going to maintain the BB10 software, but also work on “advancing it to be even more secure”. According to Beard, future updates for BB10, for the year 2017, are already in the works.
Last week, BlackBerry claimed that it would stop manufacturing the BlackBerry Classic smartphone, which sparked speculations about an impending demise of the company’s iconic keyboards. Beard’s post clarifies that BlackBerry still sees demand for its keyboard, and will continue making them in future.
However, while BlackBerry’s post clarifies the future of its platform, it doesn’t mention devices coming in the future. “We have four physical keyboard options that we currently offer: Passport, Passport Silver Edition, Classic and PRIV. There is solid demand for physical keyboards – and as long as that’s the case, we’ll continue to make them. For virtual keyboard fans, you have Leap and PRIV (just keep that slider down),” wrote Beard.
This could mean that its future devices may be launched under these brand names, and with Android on them. BlackBerry has been battling poor sales for a while now, and there have often been rumours of the company exiting the business altogether.