There was a time, before the birth of modern smartphones, when owning a BlackBerry mobile phone was a status symbol. At the time there were many revolutions that the brand brought to the mobile market but for all BlackBerry fans the bad news is now a dominant present.
In fact, the company's release on the mobile phone market is confirmed, so much so that BlackBerry has announced that it will sell all the patents, both those relating to the old "mobile phones" and those relating to messaging services and wireless networks, to the company Catapult IP Innovations Inc for $ 600 million. So it's official: BlackBerry is permanently exiting the smartphone market.
Of course, the company pointed out that they are not selling the patents essential to the execution of their core operations, so this sale will not affect users who still use the brand's devices, assuming there are still any in circulation. Either way, it looks like BlackBerry will now fully devote itself to the cybersecurity business.
Is it really the end? BlackBerry sells all of its patents
Despite this, the Canadian company seems to be experiencing a good financial moment and it does not seem that in the near future we will stop talking about it. BlackBerry right now is one of the most important cybersecurity companies in the world, in fact last year it recorded a turnover of 184 million dollars, of which 69,5% came from the cybersecurity business and 23,3% from the Internet of Things (IoT) business.
In this regard, here are some curiosities that you may not know about the much discussed and loved BlackBerry, which was not just a smartphone, on the contrary:
- Its electric vehicle operating system is used by 24 of the world's top 25 manufacturers;
- It is a leader in train automation, industrial equipment and medical equipment with proprietary QNX software;
- The International Data Corporation has recognized them for being a leader in unified device management and security for their Cylance software.
With the sale of their classic patents, they will receive $ 450 million in cash at the close of the transaction and another $ 150 million in promissory note. Strange payment right?
