The long-rumored BlackBerry Mercury is now official. Dubbed as the BlackBerry KeyOne, the once-called Mercury has now been formally unveiled to the world. However, recent reports suggest that this phone won't be the only BlackBerry smartphone that TCL is releasing in 2017. A company executive has mentioned that TCL might launch up to three new BlackBerry phones in this year alone.
TCL's BlackBerry Plans For 2017
As per CNET, TCL's Nicolas Zibell said that the company could come up with a total of three BlackBerry phones this year. On top of the newly launched BlackBerry KeyOne, a different source suggests that TCL could also release a purely touchscreen-smartphone. A supposed successor to the DTEK 50 and DTEK 60 could also join the lineup within the next months.
TCL's Mission To Restore The BlackBerry Branding
BlackBerry decided to stop making smartphones last year. However, since the brand license is still existent, the company can give licensing rights to third-party companies. This is where wealthy firms like TCL comes into action. TCL is taking over the BlackBerry smartphone brand in several markets and is bound to release multiple new models under the popular name.
TCL hopes to see carriers understand the company's support for the brand, which is what might have been missing in the previous BlackBerry phones. CNET said that the problem with the original BB lineup is that its rollout was slow and it also failed to respond to the market. Even the company's first Android smartphone Priv was criticized for its high price.
BlackBerry Phones Of 2017
Apart from TCL, BlackBerry also shared its branding rights to a few other companies. As per past reports, PT BB Merah Putih of Indonesia also got licensing rights from the company. India's Optiemus was also added to the list a few weeks ago. The Indian company will be selling its BlackBerry phones to markets like Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and of course, India.
