OnwardMobility announces its closure and the death of the promised BlackBerry 5G smartphone
At the start of the year, holders of the BlackBerry license, OnwardMobility, reiterated its promise to bring a 5G BlackBerry device to the market later in the year. Barely six weeks in, the company has now given up the ghost.
In a statement published on its official website hours ago, the company announced:
To all of our valued followers, supporters and partners:
We want to thank you all for the tremendous amount of support that you have given us since we first launched OnwardMobility. However, it is with great sadness that we announce that OnwardMobility will be shutting down, and we will no longer be proceeding with the development of an ultra-secure smartphone with a physical keyboard.
That's about as final as it gets. OnwardMobility is dead and will not be bringing a BlackBerry 5G smartphone to the market. This isn't surprising—Kevin Michaluk of CrackBerry reported as much a few weeks ago. It only serves as a disappointing nail in the coffin of what used to be a fan-favorite smartphone brand, at least until another company snags the BlackBerry license.
Requiescat in pace, BlackBerry—you will be sorely missed.