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  • BlackBerry Rumoured to Be Working on an Android Phone
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Is BlackBerry Going Android?

It’s no secret that BlackBerry has been having some difficulties selling some of its newer phones, but nothing proves that more than the rumour that the Canadian company might be selling an Android-based phone this fall. This report first came from Reuters, and has since been backed up by a number of additional anonymous sources. Here’s the scoop.

A Bold Move

Ever since BlackBerry moved away from its originally QWERTY keyboard that many business people loved so much, the company has been struggling. Phones that were built to emulate smartphones didn’t sell well or at all, and the company’s other attempts (at tablets and such) fell flat. Eventually BlackBerry had to restructure, and this seemed like a good plan at the start. Unfortunately, the restructuring of BlackBerry didn’t really work for the company either. While BlackBerry is still purchased widely in various countries, the company’s phones still don’t cut it.

This could be one of the main reasons why BlackBerry is said to be focusing on putting out an Android phone for the first time. It has been reported that BlackBerry will be selling a phone in the fall that is based on Google’s Android operating system. This is a first for the company, and it largely means that BlackBerry has given up on its own capabilities in order to simply make more sales.

A Collapsing Market Share

Currently, BlackBerry has less than 1% of the market share. That’s not good news for a company that once largely dominated the business side of the smartphone market. Some sources that have been contacted about this story for other publications have stated that BlackBerry will soon be focusing more on device management and software, and less on creating the actual devices.

If the company does use the Android platform to create its next phone, sales of BlackBerry devices might rise - then again, this new phone would have to be something that can’t be found on the current Android market, so BlackBerry will have to make the new phone truly unique. What’s largely unclear right now is whether or not BlackBerry will deviate completely from the company’s BlackBerry 10, or if the Android option will apply solely to one phone that the company will put out.

A Likely Scenario

What’s likely to happen is that BlackBerry will release the new Android phone, see how that phone sells, and then move in one of two directions. The company could go back to making its own smartphones with its own platforms, or it could move towards Android-based phones completely in the future. If you were one of the many that missed the old BlackBerry, there’s not a good chance that you will get those old phones back now.

But, you may just be able to buy a BlackBerry-Android hybrid that’s better than what the company is currently putting out. Then again, there’s always the possibility that none of these rumours are true, and BlackBerry is simply continuing to sludge away at its own phones and platforms.