New BlackBerry 5G smartphone will be publicly available in the first half of 2021 in North America and Europe
OnwardMobility today announced agreements with BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX:BB) and FIH Mobile Limited (HKG: 2038), a subsidiary of Foxconn Technology Group, to deliver a new BlackBerry® 5G smartphone, powered by Android™, with a physical keyboard, in the first half of 2021 in North America and Europe.
“BlackBerry is thrilled OnwardMobility will deliver a BlackBerry 5G smartphone device with physical keyboard, leveraging our high standards of trust and security synonymous with our brand. We are excited that customers will experience the enterprise and government level security and mobile productivity the new BlackBerry 5G smartphone will offer,” said John Chen, Executive Chairman and CEO, BlackBerry.
Under the terms of the agreement, BlackBerry grants OnwardMobility the right to develop, engineer, and bring to market a BlackBerry 5G mobile device. Working closely with BlackBerry and FIH Mobile, OnwardMobility will ensure the world-class design and manufacturing of these devices.
“Enterprise professionals are eager for secure 5G devices that enable productivity, without sacrificing the user experience,” said Peter Franklin, CEO of OnwardMobility. “BlackBerry smartphones are known for protecting communications, privacy, and data. This is an incredible opportunity for OnwardMobility to bring next-generation 5G devices to market with the backing of BlackBerry and FIH Mobile.”
“Companies are rapidly investing in transformative technologies to improve productivity, but often don’t place enough emphasis on security, particularly in their use of mobile devices,” said analyst Jack Gold, President and Principal Analyst of J. Gold Associates, LLC. “With 5G quickly coming to market and the acceleration it will cause in upgrading mobile devices and deploying productivity enhancing apps, deploying proven and highly secure products like the BlackBerry 5G devices in enterprises, government, and regulated industries like finance or legal, is mission critical."
OnwardMobility will conduct product planning and market development for BlackBerry smartphones in North America, and FIH Mobile will design and manufacture the BlackBerry devices under strict guidelines to ensure component, device and supply chain integrity.
“As an exclusive supplier to OnwardMobility, we’re committed to delivering new BlackBerry 5G devices to market, utilizing our deep expertise in design, manufacturing, component supply and logistics management,” said Dr. Wen-Yi Kuo, Executive Director, FIH Mobile.
About OnwardMobility
OnwardMobility is dedicated to producing the most productive, user-friendly and secure mobile devices for all businesses, from government to enterprise to those who power the gig economy. Security shapes every process involved in the development, design, supply chain sourcing and manufacture of all OnwardMobility devices. Their team is comprised of industry veterans and serial entrepreneurs with deep mobile, government and enterprise expertise. To learn more about OnwardMobility’s corporate mission, please visit: https://onwardmobility.com/ or follow us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
About FIH Mobile Limited
As a subsidiary of Foxconn Technology Group and a leader in the mobile device industry worldwide, FIH offers a vertically integrated design, development, and manufacturing services, that is a comprehensive range of end-to-end engineering services and manufacturing services to its customers in respect of handsets, mobile/wireless communication devices and consumer electronic products. In light of moving into Internet era and exploring new business opportunities, FIH has also been engaged in 5G, IoV (Internet of Vehicle) and AI for building up the Internet and the mobile ecosystem. Visit our website at http://www.fihmb.com/
