Most of us do know now that the BlackBerry Mercury will be unveiled at the forthcoming MWC 2017, albeit with its official name which continues to be under wrap with TCL and BlackBerry tight-lipped on the issue. At the just concluded CES BlackBerry, Mercury has already garnered rave reviews and there are other reports in the run up to the MWC which have spoken high of the latest smartphone from BlackBerry.
Blackberry Mercury from licensing partner TCL
Earlier BlackBerry had announced its decision to stop manufacturing smartphone hardware and instead adopt the licensing route for all new smartphone offerings in the future. Thus, ‘Mercury’ comes from BB’s licensing partner TCL who also makes the Alcatel range of phones. Although TCL enjoys global rights under its arrangement with BB, some territories are exempted from the scope of the agreement. BB has another ongoing agreement with PT BB Merah Putih and is actively pursuing another agreement with an Indian company. In the days to come, BB may also look for other partners in the region.
More smartphones may follow BlackBerry Mercury from TCL
With the licensing route being actively pursued by BlackBerry, it now appears that Mercury may not be the only smartphone to be announced at the MWC under the BlackBerry brand. Another device with codename BBC100-1 focused on emerging south Asian markets like Indonesia, Philippines, and India coming from PT BB Merah Putih is already doing the rounds in the news circles. This time around, the device is expected to sport a 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor, 4GB RAM, and 32 GB storage. The display is expected to be 5.5” supporting 720p HD resolution. The camera for the device is rumored to be 13 MP for the rear and 8MP front camera for the selfie buffs. The phone is likely to offer dual SIM facility and powered by 3,000 mAH battery.
However, since the phone is not coming from the TCL stable, doubts persist on whether it would make a debut at the forthcoming MWC