By Ben Dummett and Archibald Preuschat
BARCELONA-- BlackBerry Ltd. said Tuesday a new touch-screen
phone will be one of four devices it launches this year, as it
bolsters its turnaround effort---which is geared to selling mobile
security software to enterprises--with new devices aimed at
business and government customers.
The midprice BlackBerry Leap, which will retail for $275 and has
a five-inch display, will be available next month in some
countries. The Leap is the third device BlackBerry has introduced
since September. Like its predecessors, the square-shaped Passport
and the Classic--the Leap is aimed at professionals, this time
younger ones who favor using their own device at work and are more
accustomed to a touch-screen keyboard that dominate most new
devices.
The Passport, which has a 4.5-inch square screen, makes it
easier to manipulate and read documents, while the Classic is
modeled after BlackBerry's Bold device and has a traditional qwerty
keyboard and trackpad.
"BlackBerry Leap was built specifically for mobile professionals
who see their smartphone device as a powerful and durable
productivity tool that also safeguards sensitive communications at
all times," Ron Louks, the company's head of devices, said.
BlackBerry's renewed focus on selling security and software
technology, as well as devices that are meant to boost worker
productivity, follows a failed attempt in 2013 to compete against
Apple Inc., Samsung Electronics Inc. and other smartphone makers in
the consumer space. Faced with dwindling share in the device
market, BlackBerry Chief Executive John Chen is pushing the sale of
mobile device management software and other technology that works
across BlackBerrys, Apple's iPhones, and devices powered by
operating systems from Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp.
On the weekend, BlackBerry extended its mobile security
partnership with Samsung to include the South Korean phone giant's
integration of BlackBerry encryption and mobile-billing
technologies into its Knox security platform.
The Canadian company also said it plans to launch new software
packages later this year for security, editing and monitoring
documents and messages, as well as holding work meetings across
different types of mobile devices.
Sales of mobile software are particularly appealing for
BlackBerry because they generate higher profit margins than the
device business. Mr. Chen, though, has said the company has no
plans to abandon the device business as long as is profitable. The
business offers the company another way to appeal to enterprise
customers, while generating much needed revenue as BlackBerry tries
to win sales of its newly launched software products.
In addition to the Leap, BlackBerry said it plans to launch
three other devices this year, one a new Porsche-branded BlackBerry
and a new device with a physical keyboard in summer.
The last device this year will be a smartphone with a curved
display and a keyboard, but Mr. Chen declined to specify the
device's launch date.
Write to Ben Dummett at ben.dummett@wsj.com
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