Blackberry to stop making its own phones
Once-dominant smartphone maker Blackberry Ltd. said it will stop developing its phones in-house and shift that work to outside companies so it can focus on software manufacturing.
In a regulatory filing Wednesday, the Canadian company said it plans to “end all internal hardware development” on its Blackberry brand phones and “outsource that function to partners.”
“This allows us to reduce capital requirements and enhance return on invested capital,” Chief Executive John Chen said in the filing.
Blackberry will focus on developing “state-of-the-art security and device software,” Chen said in a call with investors Wednesday morning.
Wednesday’s move is part of Chen’s efforts to turn around the company, once a highly profitable global leader in smartphone technology that has been displaced by products from Apple, Samsung and others.
The Associated Press was used in compiling this report.
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