BlackBerry Ltd (BBRY)’s Rumored Android Phone Co
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by Neha Gupta · July 6, 2015 06:13 AM PDT
It is speculated that BlackBerry Ltd (TSE:BB)(NASDAQ:BBRY)’s Venice could actually run on Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s Android OS instead of BlackBerry OS. Venice is a slider phone that features a touchscreen. BlackBerry took the opportunity at the 2015 Mobile World Conference to show off Venice.
Nobody knows for sure, but it is likely that Venice could be BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY)’s first hardware running Android OS. Earlier reports though, hinted that Venice would run on BlackBerry OS. However, it appears as though the company has had a change of heart about putting its own operating system in the device.
Multiple operating systems
It is also possible that BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) could offer Venice with the ability to choose between its own operating system and Android.
Developing for rival platforms
Although Venice is likely to mark a major departure from BlackBerry’s norm, making devices that are compatible with rival software is not entirely new for BlackBerry. The company recently moved to enable access to Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s Appstore on its handsets.
BlackBerry also enabled Android app support on its 7-inch tablet called BlackBerry Playbook. The move to enable Android apps on BlackBerry Playbook was aimed at expanding the platform for app developers.
Expanding revenue opportunity
Looking at BlackBerry’s current position, the company could actually gain a lot on the revenue front by embracing the Android platform. Currently, BlackBerry gets most of its money from software and services businesses and less from hardware. Tapping into Android could enable it to expand its hardware revenue and also make more software and services sales.
The other thing is that BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY)’s own OS isn’t receiving the warm reception that it once enjoyed in the smartphone market. It seems like a better strategy for BlackBerry to build Android phones and write software for other platforms other than its own. The company has been bringing its software and apps to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iOS and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s Windows Phone.
BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) has nothing to lose at this juncture by developing hardware and software for Android. However, it remains to be seen whether Venice will be that device to launch BlackBerry on the Android platform in a major way.