BlackBerry to release one unconventional phone a year

The BlackBerry Passport has just been officially launched last week and the handset has quickly sold out, demonstrating that BlackBerry had underestimated the success the handset was going to have, offering up only 200.000 units when the handset went on sale. The BlackBerry Passport enjoys a pretty good success rate at the moment, with people appreciating the unconventional form factor the company chose for it newest flagship.

During the BlackBerry Passport launch event, CEO John Chen announced that the BlackBerry Classic would also be launched in October to cater to those who enjoy the traditional BlackBerry business-phone format, suggesting at the same time that if the two new handsets were successful, BlackBerry will try to invest more into the smartphone market. Although John Chen has decidedly shifted BlackBerry orientation towards business and corporate markets, it turns out that the boost the BlackBerry Passport gave to the company was well-received and prompted the announcement of upcoming handsets.

According to recent news, BlackBerry will be putting out more unconventional smartphone in the future, to cater to those who feel a tad bored by the smartphone market and its repetitive design and functionality. If we’re honest, that statement is mostly true. Most flagships are rectangular, with a touchscreen, either Android or iOS (maybe Windows) with the most outstanding design from mainstream manufacturers coming from Samsung in the form of the Galaxy Note Edge and from the underdog Oppo with the Oppo N1 rotating camera. Not to say that there aren’t any innovators out there, but they’re certainly not as mainstream and popular as Samsung, LG, Sony, Motorola, Apple or even HTC.

BlackBerry will try to keep up the unconventional trend by launching another “weird” handset sometime in 2015 and we’ve learned that the company will be further developing its smartphone line. John Chen suggested that the Mobile World Congress of 2015 will be  host to three new BlackBerry devices which will fit into the “unconventional” category. Supposedly, there will be a BlackBerry Passport nr. 2, the already announced BlackBerry Classic dubbed Q20 and one other handset we know nothing about, except that it will be unconventional.

It seems bold of BlackBerry to dive into the smartphone market yet again, but CEO thinks that the company has recovered from its losses and has everything under control, thus allowing for new risks to be undertaken. John Chen was brought on to BlackBerry so that he could help the company get back on its more stable feet and even though many had said that the CEO would not have a significant impact on the future development of BlackBerry, current success of the company proves otherwise. John Chen must be proud.

What did you think of the BlackBerry Passport when it was launched? Do you think it should have a successor in the form of a Passport 2 or do you think its target consumer area is too restricted? What kind of “unconventional” phones do you think the company is planning for the future?