Blackberry: Can New Android Smartphones Save the Company from the Abyss?

Blackberry to launch two less expensive Android phones.The smartphone maker plans to sell two new Android phones at a lower cost than the Priv. This Canadian vendor is planning to launch two mid-range Android devices this year in what analysts are calling the "last opportunity" for the firm to get it right in handsets. This comes after the company admitted that the Priv was too expensive. In an interview with Abu Dhabi-based publication The National, BlackBerry chief executive John Chen said there would be one Android handset this year with a keyboard and one full touchscreen, but gave no timing on when they would be released. Last year, BlackBerry launched its first device running Android called the Priv. It was aimed at the high-end market where the likes of Apple and Samsung play. But Chen said that it was too expensive. "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," Chen said. "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'." BlackBerry has struggled in recent times to make its hardware business profitable. In its fiscal year ending February 29, BlackBerry reported a 39.8 percent year-on-year drop in hardware revenue. It said it recognized revenue related to approximately 3.2 million BlackBerry handheld devices in fiscal 2016, a large drop from the 7 million the previous fiscal year. Can Blackberry resurrect its smartphone business and remain a viable entity or will the company simply fade into oblivion? Share your comments here at the Smartphone and Tablet Zone: http://smartphoneandtabletzone.blogspot.com/