Android device has to pull BlackBerry out of slump

New device has to save the company

BlackBerry had already warned it would have dismal results, but the quarterly numbers were even worse than anticipated. Nevertheless, there was a silver lining: it ended its second quarter with a 51 million dollar net profit (45 million euro), compared to the 207 million dollar loss it had endure in the second quarter of 2014.

To turn the tide, BlackBerry will soon launch a new smartphone called Priv: customers will be able to choose whether they prefer an Android-powered version or one that runs on the company’s own native technology. No matter the choice, both versions will be protected by Canadian technology.

The device will launch before the end of the year and will contain a sliding system, revealing the keyboard hidden underneath the touch screen. The device has to give BlackBerry sales a spark, as its current version is not doing very well: only 800,000 were sold in the past quarter, well below the 1.1 million devices from the first quarter.