BlackBerry has gotten around to officially announcing a hardware licensing agreement with manufacturer TCL Communication. TCL will build smartphones for BlackBerry, who are transitioning into a software and security focused company.
This partnership shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. TCL was already responsible for rebadging Alcatel phones as the BlackBerry DTEK50 and DTEK60, which is the direction that we assume it will be taking from here on out.
TCL will also be responsible for distribution of BlackBerry branded hardware across the globe, with a few exceptions that happen to include Indonesia. The list of exceptions happens to look like places where the BlackBerry brand is the strongest, which would likely mean that there are already local partners in those locations.
No details about future devices have been shared, nor is TCL even hinting at what might be in store. BlackBerry still has one more device up its sleeve, but it is unknown if this will end up being made by TCL.
