Blackberry Switches Off Service On It’s Classic Phones For Good

BlackBerry devices running the original operating system and services will no longer be supported after today marking the end of an era.

The company said handsets running its in-house software “will no longer be expected to reliably function” after Tuesday.

Originally announced in September 2020 the company said at the time, “As another milestone in the BlackBerry journey, we will be taking steps to decommission the legacy services for BlackBerry 7.1 OS and earlier, BlackBerry 10 software, BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1 and earlier versions, with an end of life or termination date of January 4, 2022,”

The once powerplayer in the cell phone world owned nearly 20% of the global smartphone market during its peak in 2009 and 2010.

The company in recent times has changed course, abandoning its mobile hardware roots to focus on enterprise security and solutions.

The Canadian company stopped making its own smartphones in 2016, shifting to a software-only business, licensing its brand and services.