BlackBerry Finally Kills Its Classic Phone

BlackBerry Finally Kills Its Classic Phone

Handheld phone, loved for its handy keyboard and hated for its terrible web browser, dies at age 20. It was once the go-to device of millions. Crime enthusiast lawyer; Nike Akinbosade couldn't put hers down.

It was a good run. But the BlackBerry that you all once knew and loved has passed away.

BlackBerry announced on Tuesday that it would no longer make the BlackBerry Classic - a model that used the old QWERTY keys and was popular before the age of touchscreen smartphones.

"The hardest part in letting go is accepting that change makes way for new and better experiences," BlackBerry chief operating officer Ralph Pini said in a blog post.

"We are updating our smartphone lineup with state-of-the-art devices."

The title of the post was "Change is Only Natural: A Classic Model Makes Way."

BlackBerry Classic and its iconic physical keyboard will no longer be part of the Canadian company's product portfolio, according to Pini.

Pini began it by touchingly (pun intended) writing that "Sometimes it can be very tough to let go. For BlackBerry, and more importantly for our customers, the hardest part in letting go is accepting that change makes way for new and better experiences."

BlackBerry; the Canadian tech company formerly known as Research in Motion (RIM), has been struggling for years due to increased competition from Apple as well as Samsung and other companies that make phones running on Google's Android software.

BlackBerry has released its own smartphone powered by Android software such as the BlackBerry Priv, which is made available free by Google parent company Alphabet.

BlackBerry, one of the early pioneers of smartphones, has been struggling for years. It has made several efforts to find new customer niches, with low-cost devices, tablets and by shifting its emphasis to software and services.

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