BlackBerry’s Slow Death Could Spell Good News for iOS and Android

Formerly built and distributed by defunct Canadian smartphone-maker, Research in Motion, BlackBerry devices were among the most popular smartphone flagships in the world — long before Apple came around with iPhone in the summer of 2007 and upended the smartphone landscape as we know it.

And while the BlackBerry brand still lives on to this day — having been acquired by Chinese smartphone-maker, TCL, back in 2016 — the newer BlackBerry-branded devices, including the KeyONE and Priv, haven’t been nearly as well-received by consumers, as were the original RIM flagships like the BlackBerry Bold, Pearl and Curve.

In fact, according to the latest estimates compiled by market research firm, IDC, a mere 850,000 BlackBerry-branded smartphones were shipped in all of 2017. And that doesn’t just include newer, Android-powered devices like the BlackBerry KeyONE, but all BlackBerry models currently available, according to The Verge.

In stark contrast, Apple sold a whopping 216.76 million iPhone models during the entirety of 2017, according to estimates provided by Statista. Notably, TCL’s shipment of just 850,000 BlackBerry devices in 2017 is only superior — by the numbers — to that of Essential Phone, which managed to sell an estimated 88,000 units in 2017.

R.I.P. BlackBerry World

TCL was already churning out Android powered smartphones at the time of its BlackBerry acquisition. And therefore, the BlackBerry brand was stripped of almost all traces of its former glory — the BB10 mobile OS and other related software features. Now, BlackBerry ‘flagships’ like the Motion, Aurora, Leap and KeyONE are powered by various iterations of the Android mobile operating system.

Accordingly, it was revealed via an internal memo distributed to the company’s employees this week that BlackBerry plans to remove any remaining paid apps from BlackBerry World — the company’s slow but perpetually dying app storefront — by March 31, 2018, while BB World as a whole is expected to go down in its entirety by the end of 2019, according to The Verge.

With regards to the removal of paid apps, AppleInsider noted that “all purchasing mechanisms will be turned off,” while refunds for previous purchases will only be issued to those who inquire until April 30.

Free apps will remain available on BlackBerry World until its complete shutter at the end of next year, when Android-powered BlackBerry owners will simply have to rely on the many apps available on the Google Play Store, exclusively.

Good News for Apple and Google?

This somber news is of course merely the latest unfortunate development for TCL-owned BlackBerry. And while it’s unlikely that the current range of BlackBerry flagships will go anywhere, anytime soon, it’s also just as unlikely that we’ll ever see another new BlackBerry flagship again.

And with BlackBerry’s marketshare bleeding, increasingly and painfully so, it’s safe to reason that most current BB owners will eventually have no choice but to purchase an iPhone or Android-powered device once their BlackBerry craps out. Though, only time will tell if Blackberry users will gravitate toward Apple’s iPhone or other Android devices.