The smartphone that never was
What you need to know
- OnwardMobility has officially confirmed that it is shutting down.
- This means the 5G BlackBerry phone has been scrapped following some delays.
- OnwardMobility’s BlackBerry-branded smartphone was supposed to debut in 2021.
OnwardMobility, the U.S. startup that promised to launch a BlackBerry 5G phone sometime in 2021, has confirmed that the project has been shelved as it announced the company’s shutdown.
In a farewell notice posted on its website, OnwardMobility said that its plan to develop a BlackBerry-branded smartphone has been scrapped. The statement says:
We want to thank you all for the tremendous amount of support that you have given us since we first launched OnwardMobility. However, it is with great sadness that we announce that OnwardMobility will be shutting down, and we will no longer be proceeding with the development of an ultra-secure smartphone with a physical keyboard.
Please know that this was not a decision that we made lightly or in haste. We share your disappointment in this news and assure you this is not the outcome we worked and hoped for.
The writing was on the wall after the phone’s release was delayed last year. OnwardMobility originally planned to introduce its first product in 2021 at a competitive price to challenge the best Android phones. However, 2021 came to pass without any single update from the firm regarding its smartphone project.
Earlier this month, CrackBerry reported that OnwardMobility had pulled the plug on its BlackBerry 5G phone. According to Android Police, the Texas-based startup’s license to use the BlackBerry brand on its products was canceled supposedly because BlackBerry wanted to “further distance itself from its days as a smartphone vendor.”
Previously, OnwardMobility denied rumors about the phone’s demise. It even promised more updates for the device before posting a farewell message that now replaces all content on its website.