The world’s largest manufacturer of electronic products and components, Foxconn, has agreed to a five-year deal with the world’s former leading smartphone maker, Blackberry.
The two companies’ initial plans include the development of a new smartphone.
In addition to the partnership announcement, Blackberry also announced a third-quarter loss of $4.4bn, including a fairly major writing-down of assets.
While news of a company being that much in the red might come as a bit of a shock, it’s nothing new for Blackberry, which has seen quarter after quarter of financial bleeding.
To say the least, a deal with Foxconn is an absolutely necessary for Blackberry, and it’s believed that the partnership will give both companies the scale necessary to be competitive against other smartphone manufacturers, especially in the Far Eastern markets.
Blackberry’s recently appointed interim chief executive, John Chen, reflected on the deal, saying “This partnership demonstrates BlackBerry's commitment to the device market for the long-term and our determination to remain the innovation leader in secure end-to-end mobile solutions.”
He added: “Partnering with Foxconn allows BlackBerry to focus on what we do best — iconic design, world-class security, software development and enterprise mobility management — while simultaneously addressing fast-growing markets leveraging Foxconn's scale and efficiency that will allow us to compete more effectively.”
The deal is not expected to affect Foxconn’s partnership with Apple, in which they provide the company with the components necessary for their various products and devices, most notably the iPhone and iPad.
Story via: bbc.co.uk
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