BlackBerry says TCL Communications will stop manufacturing BlackBerry-branded phones on August 31, 2020 as its licensing deal comes to an end
Ben Schoon / 9to5Google :
Context & Ripple Effects
This is the final chapter of a retreat that began in 2016, when BlackBerry stopped building phones itself and outsourced design and manufacturing to partners after a $372M quarterly loss — TCL Communications became the main licensee carrying the brand on Android hardware. Since then BlackBerry has been dismantling the consumer remnants one piece at a time, including the World app store shutdown set for the end of 2019.
With the TCL license expiring on August 31, 2020, no partner is left making BlackBerry-branded devices — closing out the licensing strategy that was supposed to keep the handset business alive without factories.
First-order effects
- BlackBerry-branded phones disappear from the market after August 31, 2020, ending TCL's run as the brand's manufacturer and leaving BlackBerry with no active hardware licensee of this scale.
Second-order effects
- BlackBerry's device economics shift entirely to software and IP: it already monetizes other Android makers through patent deals such as the BLU licensing agreement, and QNX and Secusmart are now the businesses carrying the company.
Third-order effects
- The pattern — exit manufacturing, license the name, then let the license lapse — marks the terminal stage for legacy handset brands, where the trademark outlives the product and the company's value rests wholly on software and patents.
The trend: Legacy phone brands are completing their conversion from hardware makers into software-and-patent licensors, with each licensing expiry shrinking the branded-device market further.