NewsAlert:BlackBerry to end production of BlackBerry Classic smartphone

BlackBerry will halt production of its BlackBerry Classic smartphone, the latest iteration of its iconic handset that a generation ago made it the must-have unit for people on the go.

While the phone was clearly designed for BlackBerry’s existing base of customers, the company hoped to bring in new users, touting the physical keyboard, messaging hub and longer battery life as attractive features.

BlackBerry has since launched a phone powered by Alphabet’s Android software and plans several more, and BlackBerry Chief Executive John Chen last month expressed confidence the company’s trimmed-down handset business can turn a profit by a self-imposed September deadline.

“For now, if the Classic is still your device of choice, please check with your carriers for device availability or purchase Classic unlocked online”, Pini wrote.

Even when it was launched in 2014, the BlackBerry Classic was an exercise in nostalgia, harking back to the days when most smartphones came with a physical keyboard and a modest-sized screen – that is, before the iPhone came along.

Pini said it’s committed to its Blackberry 10, which runs on the BB 10 operating system, and Android devices.

BlackBerry’s COO and GM for devices, Ralph Pini, confirmed the decision in a blog post published a little earlier, which itself appeared to be a belated response to news that leaked out by way of a U.S. Senate memo published by Politico before the long Independence Day weekend.

The company announced that the classic BlackBerry will no longer be sold, as of July 5, 2016.

Shares of Blackberry (BBRY) are down 1.92% to $6.63 today after dropping the Blackberry Classic smartphone model from its lineup. “We continue to actively support sales of our BlackBerry 10 smartphones to customers in most markets”, the statement reads.

BlackBerry is still on track to deliver the next version of its BB10 software next month with a second update to follow in 2017, according to the memo. “We are ready for this change so we can give our customers something better”.

For years, BlackBerry has tried in vain to catch up with Apple and Google in the mobile OS game.