There was a time when BlackBerry was one of the most popular smartphone companies in the world, but the Canadian company announced in September 2016 that it would no longer manufacture smartphones due to financial difficulties, thus ending an era.
The company later handed over its license to Chinese company TCL and offered some phones.
But BlackBerry Mobile’s partnership with TCL ended in February this year and it looked like it would not be able to return.
But now the company is about to usher in a new era with the partnership of Onward Mobility and FIH Mobile Limited, a subsidiary of Foxconn.
The three companies announced on August 19 that they are introducing the first 5G BlackBerry phone with a physical keyboard instead of a touch screen.
No further details were given about the phone, but the announcement did emphasize security.
In a statement, Peter Franklin, CEO of Onward Mobility, said: Introduce the next generation 5G devices in the market.
According to the statement, FIH will design and produce BlackBerry phones while focusing on planning and market placement of on-the-go mobility devices.
BlackBerry’s last smartphone was introduced in 2018 under the name of K2 which was given Android operating system and physical keyboard.
BlackBerry’s new phone will be available to consumers in the US and Europe in the first half of 2021.