5G BlackBerry: plans for a modern-day business-class button phone fall apart as its OEM "dies"

Onward Mobility stepped up to take on the rights to make new phones under one of the world's most prominent legacy mobile device brands after TCL formally dropped the same line of business in 2020. Since then, the start-up has pledged to deliver the world's first 5G BlackBerry.

However, the company then proceeded to push the phone's launch date back not once, but many times, such as the "waitlist" that seemed to be more of a survey of consumer interest. This might have been explained by pandemic conditions; now, however, it seems the people behind Onward Mobility have now simply given up on fulfilling its latest hypothetical deadline.

CrackBerry's Kevin Michaluk now purports to call a time of death on the 5G BlackBerry. Citing "multiple sources", the fan-site's founder claims to have heard the company has, like so many start-ups in this climate, stopped operating as of yesterday (February 11, 2022). 

Therefore, while Michaluk is "sure the people involved set out with good intentions and put in some real effort", they simply "were not able to execute" plans to release the BlackBerry the 2020s might actually want.

As the actual company has evinced so little enthusiasm for the smartphone industry that it has now sold at least some of the IP that enables them to do so, it seems this was the iPhone predecessor's ultimate last stand has turned into more of a limp off into the annals of tech history.

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