[BBd00d]

So now that BlackBerry is entering phase two in licensing it's android OS to other manufacturers, which would provide its security to others for their handsets, why would it need TCL to build phones for them? In other words what would be the draw for someone to buy a handset from BlackBerry? Is the KEYone going to be the only thing that bbmobile offers that sets them apart?

[conite]

TCL (BlackBerry Mobile) builds phones for themselves, and pays a licencing fee to BlackBerry for its OS and brand name.

Phase 2 simply allows a licencee to obtain the OS only (not the brand name). The licencee can continue to use their own brand device.

Either way, BlackBerry does nothing but provide software.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

The other licensing won't be the full brand.... so no branded BlackBerry hardware.

BlackBerry said Friday that, thanks to new agreements with licensing partners, there may soon be opportunities for BlackBerry branded "tablets, wearables, medical devices, appliances, point-of-sale terminals and other smartphones."

That was said by CHEN back in March... this isn't new and until you see products on the shelves, not sure it's anything other than trying to "pump" their value.

Yes if HTC, Samsung or even BLU were to start licensing BlackBerry Secure on smartphones... it would eat into TCL's very, very small potential marketshare.

Until they start talking abut "partners" and "products", this is just them talking... something they have done a lot of over the last four or five years.

[BBd00d]

Yes, but what's really in the BlackBerry name anyways? the OS is 95% of BlackBerry's security anyway, which is more than enough for consumers and govt

[conite]

Yes, but what's really in the BlackBerry name anyways? the OS is 95% of BlackBerry's security anyway, which is more than enough for consumers and govt

The OS is 100% of the security.

At the end of the day, BlackBerry just wants to collect licencing fees. The market will sort out whether they want to buy a BlackBerry-branded TCL device, or say a ZTE "powered by BlackBerry Android" device.