OnwardMobility
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
OnwardMobility planned a security-focused smartphone with a physical keyboard under the BlackBerry brand.
02 / OnwardMobility FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
OnwardMobility never shipped a phone: it missed its 2021 launch window, and in early 2022 BlackBerry revoked its license to use the BlackBerry name. BlackBerry simultaneously sold its remaining mobile patent assets for $600 million, ending any prospect of a licensed smartphone revival. Without the BlackBerry brand the company had no product of its own - it had been incorporated in 2018 and never released anything - and announced it was shutting down entirely. Launching a brand-new phone company 15 years after the first iPhone, during a pandemic, compounded the failure.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Brand licence and handset plan
The company obtained a BlackBerry brand licence and announced a new keyboard phone.
- Planned launch missed
The handset was not delivered in the promised launch year.
- Company closure confirmed
In February the company announced shutdown and cancellation of further handset development.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
In February 2022 BlackBerry revoked the license to manufacture smartphones under its name, weeks after selling its legacy mobile patent portfolio for $600 million to Catapult IP Innovations.
- 02
On February 18, 2022 OnwardMobility posted a statement on its website confirming it was shutting down and cancelling its ultra-secure smartphone with a physical keyboard; Android Police reported the company had filed for bankruptcy.
- 03
No loss figure was disclosed for the wind-down.