TD Securities analyst Daniel Chan claims BlackBerry’s fate might have been sealed the moment Facebook dropped support

Mar 29, 2016 14:07 GMT  ·  By

Although BlackBerry has already confirmed that it will focus its smartphone business on Android devices, things are a bit more complicated for the Canadian company.

The PRIV, BlackBerry’s first Android smartphone might have sold pretty well among fans and those curious enough to spend a small fortune on one, but the truth is the device is not really ready from prime time.

The Canadian company is expected to announce the number of PRIV units sold since its launch on April 1, but even if the results are positive, the future might be bleak for BlackBerry.

Facebook and WhatsApp recently announced they will drop support for BlackBerry OS (including OS10), and with no BB10 device in the pipeline, there’s little chance that the ecosystem will be supported by the Canadian company for too long.

The loss of two of the most popular mobile applications across all platforms could lead to the end of life for BB10. The only thing that remains for BlackBerry is to continue to launch Android smartphones, but the company does not have the expertise to design a good product and the PRIV is the living proof.

Can Android OS save BlackBerry’s mobile division?

According to TD Securities analyst Daniel Chan, BlackBerry might be preparing for an exit from the smartphone business. Instead, BB is likely to focus on enterprise and security services, which could bring revenues of up to $1.4 billion per year, Chan claims.

But Chan could be wrong since BlackBerry’s CEO John Chen reiterated the company’s support for the smartphone division numerous times in the last couple of months. Even if John Chen said that he wouldn’t give up the phone business since there are quite a few Android handsets in the pipeline, he might be forced by unexpected events unfolding in the coming months.

The next Android smartphone coming from BlackBerry is codenamed Vienna and is expected to be announced in Q2 2016. More devices might be launched by the end of the year, but that will probably depend on how well the PRIV sold.