BlackBerry CEO confirms Q20 and sub-US$200 Foxconn phone

BlackBerry CEO John Chen and Foxconn founder Terry Gou with one of the new BlackBerrys.
(Credit: Brian Bennett/CNET)

The first, codenamed "Jakarta," will launch first in Indonesia in April before moving to other markets. The second phone, the Q20 (which Chen dubbed "BlackBerry Classic") is designed for big business and government clients and will launch by the end of the year. It was also designed by Foxconn.

Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou was also on hand, and expressed his confidence that the company will be able to deliver BlackBerry phones to the market.

While phones can take up to a year to be developed, Foxconn only spent 3 months on the products, and both Gou and Chen were able to hold up demo units.

BlackBerry has previously said it was working with Foxconn to produce a BlackBerry 10-powered smartphone that could sell for less than US$200. It's part of Chen's strategy of maintaining and hopefully building on its still relatively strong market share position in the emerging markets.

BlackBerry is in the middle of a radical shift in its strategy, moving away from the failed consumer-centric effort from last year and focusing more on government and large business customers. Chen has maintained that BlackBerry isn't giving up on the consumer market, but it remains to be seen how the company will balance those two sides.

With more people bringing their own smartphones to work, there are fewer companies issuing BlackBerrys to their employees. BlackBerry last year attempted to buck the "bring-your-own-device" trend by attempting to release buzz-worthy devices of its own in the form of a splashy launch and the BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10, but the products largely fizzled.

Chen has said he would pull back from the marketing effort and won't attempt to compete against Apple or Samsung in terms of building a consumer household name.

BlackBerry also said that its BES 12 server will be available before the end of the year. John Sims, head of BlackBerry's enterprise business, said BES 12 would serve as the unifying foundation for all BlackBerry devices, whether the phone is running on BlackBerry 10 or older versions. Sims also announced simpler pricing and an "easy pass" to allow for a free upgrade to the latest BES server. He also announced a protected version of BBM, or a secure version of its messenger system