Powerful brands from some years ago are not easy to dismiss. They always seem to make a comeback. These comebacks unveil new products that can compete with the present market rulers. Next up is BlackBerry.
One of the best examples has to be the Nokia’s from HMD. Even Palm was able to get in the spotlight for a short while.
BlackBerry used to be the phone that everyone wanted or had. TCL decided to surprise the world by bringing the brand back with an Android handset that reintroduced the QWERTY keyboard. That move, by itself, was not enough.
However, TCL has proven that they have what it takes to deliver great hardware at great prices. A few years back, they unveiled KeyOne, one of the highlights at CES that year.
An end for a beginning
Early this year, TCL announced that as of August 31, 2020, they would no longer be selling BlackBerry-branded mobile devices. It seemed like a rough ending for the partnership and an ending to the BlackBerry hardware. TCL has now moved on to making devices under their own brand and is shifting away from subsidiaries and branded deals.
This week, a company that you probably haven’t heard of named OnwardMobility is bringing back the BlackBerry. Yes, the brand is making a comeback against all the odds.
A peculiar deal
They announced that they are bringing back the brand to hardware for Europe and North America, seeing other branded deals have existed in markets elsewhere.
The deal is quite peculiar, given that OnwardMobility can hardly be considered a household name. Based in Austin, Texas, with fewer than 50 employees and a short history (founded last year), it would seem like they would be perfect in hoping for a deal like this.
We will have to wait and see the highly anticipated 5G BlackBerry phone.
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