Blackberry joins forces with Indonesia’s Tiphone to set up BB Merah Putih
The joint venture will hold the rights to produce Android-based Blackberry handsets in Indonesia
In June, Blackberry made a bold move to sell its brand, IP and technology licensing rights of messaging app Blackberry Messenger (BBM) to Indonesian media mogul Emtek Group.
Today Blackberry announced that it has set up a joint venture with Tiphone, an Indonesian smartphone hardware company which 25 per cent of its shares is owned by state-owned Telkom Group.
Called PT BB Merah Putih, the joint venture will hold the licence to Blackberry software and services, as well as the rights to produce Android-based Blackberry handsets in Indonesia.
Also Read: Telstra and Telkom Indonesia sign MOU to explore investment opportunities
The move is a part of Blackberry’s new strategy to walk out of smartphone manufacturing business and focus on building software.
“Under this strategy, we are focusing on software development, including security and applications. The company plans to end all internal hardware development and will outsource that function to partners. This allows us to reduce capital requirements and enhance return on invested capital,” said Blackberry CEO John Chen, as reported by Forbes.
Prior to this announcement, Blackberry had also released DTEK50 which hardware was a reference design by TCL.
In Indonesia, which remains BBM’s biggest market today, the joint venture will enable Blackberry to pass a government regulation that requires all smartphones sold in the country to be made of at least 30 per cent local components.
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