Just last month, it was confirmed that a new BlackBerry 5G phone with a keyboard would launch this year. This was set to be the first BlackBerry smartphone in years, but now, it seems like this device is cancelled after OnwardMobility lost rights to the BlackBerry’s name.
Back in August 2020, it was revealed that OnwardMobility is the latest licensee for the BB brand for smartphones. While the BlackBerry 5G phone suffered from delays, OnwardMobility insisted that the device is on its way. But according to an AndroidPolice report, the 5G BB project is apparently dead. The news arrives from Kevin Michaluk, founder of CrackBerry, and other sources have revealed that OnwardMobility is not planning on working on the project any longer.
Reportedly, the company has cancelled the project despite acquiring the license to use the American phone maker’s name. Furthermore, even BlackBerry is looking to distance itself from its past identity as a smartphone vendor as it sold the rest of its mobile patents earlier this month for 600 million US Dollars. While we have not seen any leaks related to OnwardMobility’s 5G BlackBerry phone, it was believed to feature a design similar to the previously launched BB Priv, which was an Android slider phone.
For those unaware, the new 5G BB phone was planned to release in mid 2021, but faced delays due to issues with the supply chain followed by BlackBerry CEO John Chen changing his decision of having another OEM try and revive the brand on another smartphone. So, with OnwardMobility losing the license to its name, we might not see another BlackBerry phone for a long time.
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