CES 2016: Blackberry Priv Coming to Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile This Year
BlackBerry's Android-powered smartphone the Priv will soon be easier to buy for all Americans. The Blackberry Priv will end its exclusivity with AT&T and will sell its phones with Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile very soon.
BlackBerry's CEO John Chen announced on Wednesday at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that the BlackBerry Priv smartphone will soon be coming to the three other major wireless carriers in the U.S., CNet reports.
The Priv is the first smartphone from struggling smartphone maker BlackBerry to use Google Android instead of its own BlackBerry operating system.
The Priv launched in November, but it was an AT&T exclusive. Chen believes that, by expanding to more carriers, the device can be profitable for the company.
Chen previously said, if the Priv was not successful, BlackBerry would give up on its device business and focus on software.
BlackBerry smartphones were once very popular among consumers, but now barely make up for even a small chunk of smartphones in circulation today.
BlackBerry's last reported quarter only reported a sales figure of 700,000 smartphones, about half of what they sold the previous year. BlackBerry 10 is the latest operating system for BlackBerry smartphones and those phones have not sold well.
BlackBerry figured that by using the Android operating system it could attract customers who like the variety of apps available from the operating system. Long-time BlackBerry users also have a preference for a physical keyboard and the Priv has one.
Chen announced that BlackBerry's 60-day exclusivity deal with AT&T is ending and the other three carriers in the U.S. would soon be getting the smartphone with a full slide-out keyboard. The official date of release for the Priv on these three carriers remains unknown, but T-Mobile's CEO John Legere said it would be in T-Mobile stores on Jan. 26.