Soon, there might be available BalckBerry branded "tablets, wearables, medical devices, appliances, point-of-sale terminals and other smartphones", thanks to their latest agreements with licensing partners.
Following the agreement with TCL in September 2016, this is the next stage of their licensing strategy, said the company. TCL has already developed three smartphones with BlackBerry branding and their next one BlackBerry KeyOne, is expected to launch in May.
Presently, Blackberry provides end-to-end security and software for smartphones build by its partners. However, the company has not yet provided the names of the devices that may actually be in development.
"We have taken a long-term and thoughtful approach to our licensing strategy, which includes an expansive view of the entire Enterprise of Things ecosystem," BlackBerry CEO John Chen said Friday. "As part of this strategy, we will work with a wide range of manufacturers to integrate BlackBerry Secure software into both BlackBerry-branded and co-branded devices."
Blackberry expects to grow at or above the overall market in their software business and to be profitable on a non-GAAP basis. It aims to generate positive free cash flow for the full year 2017-18.
As per the latest earnings report by Blackberry, the non-GAAP operating income stood at $13 million. This was also accompanied by an operating loss of $57 million, which is significantly lower than $238 million. Their non-GAAP margin increased from about 40% in the previous quarter to 65% in the three-month quarter, ended in February 17. Operating expenses were nearly halved, now standing at just $229 million.
