Blackberry’s Android shift fails to drive firm out of rut

The sun may be setting on the smartphones division of the company as it sold only 600,000 units, missing the 850,000 units target expected by Wall Street

The sun may be setting on the smartphones division of the company as it sold only 600,000 units, missing the 850,000 units target expected by Wall Street (AFP)

Blackberry's switch to the Android platform has failed to drive the Canadian technology player out of the rut as handset sales missed market estimates in the last fiscal quarter.

The company had launched a new handset, named the Priv, which would run on the Android platform and claimed to run the best features of both Android and Blackberry operating systems.

The sun may be setting on the smartphones division of the company as it sold only 600,000 units, missing the 850,000 units target expected by Wall Street. The company has also undergone a 14.3 percent drop in sales in comparison to the previous quarter, Forbes reported.

Earlier, when the phone was launched, chief execute John Chen had said that the company needed to sell three million handsets to reach the break-even point. Although sales will continue throughout the year, it is highly unlikely for people except the loyalists to buy the Priv which indicates that the chances of increasing quarterly sales of the Priv during its life is minimal.

The company is expected to launch more Android devices in the mid-range segment this year as it finally begins to understand that the high-end market is saturated. The Priv, priced at ₹ ₹62,990, was launched in India in January and the company had justified launching the high-end device based on its brand legacy.

Although, Blackberry didn't break numbers for India, it is anybody's guess that it might not be too high especially with budget and mid-range smartphones grabbing the lion share in the market. However, the company is showing growth in its software and services area and with a suite of security-focused applications now running on Android it has a portfolio that can bring continued revenue to the company.