End Of BlackBerry's Era After Announcing That They Will Stop Producing Mobile Devices

BlackBerry has put an end on its phone business after 14 years of manufacturing smartphones. Before, the company's phones were the choice of professional people providing them access to emails right away. The Canadian company had helped users the use of mobile phones in the office and any workplace with it iconic Curve design and bold smartphone physical keyboards.

But today, it looks like BlackBerry has lost the competition from its rivals Apple and Samsung as mobile users prefer to use touchscreens. The company now will be focusing on creating software and will utilize the manufacture of hardware to other companies.

BlackBerry CEO John Chen said, "We are focusing on software development, including security and applications. The company plans to end all internal hardware development and will outsource that function to partners. This allows us to reduce capital requirements and enhance return on invested capital."

Way back in May, Chen said that he would know by September if the company's mobile phone business was on the right track to stay profitable or not, after the years of struggle against its competitors. BlackBerry already confirmed that they will stop manufacturing their own phones and focus instead on services and software.

The end of BlackBerry handsets marked an end of a company that was once known as one of the world's major smartphone vendors. CMC Markets said that in September 2013, there were over 85 million BlackBerry subscribers worldwide, but suddenly fallen down by March 2016 with only 23 million subscribers as it struggled to keep pace with the Android and iOS platforms.

Meanwhile, BlackBerry already confirmed that it has signed over the global rights to use its company's brand to Chinese phone manufacturer TCL who also make phones under the Alcatel marquee. BlackBerry also announced that James Yersh, company's chief financial officer, has resigned on October for personal reasons. The former Sybase executive, Steven Capelli, will be replacing Yersh.