Blackberry Isn’t Making Its Classic Smartphone Anymore

The BlackBerry Classic is no more. Introduced in 2013, the Classic was a hark back to the original model that had Blackberry dominating the smartphone industry, but it didn’t save the company from a decline into irrelevance.

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The move is part of a bigger plan to get replace the BB10 operating system (now only available on the Passport model) with Android.

Ralph Pini, Chief Operating Officer and General Manager for Devices at BlackBerry said in a blog post it was hard to let go, but ultimately the decision will make way for new and better experiences for users.

“The Classic has long surpassed the average lifespan for a smartphone in today’s market,” Pini said. “We are ready for this change so we can give our customers something better — entrenched in our legacy in security and pedigree in making the most productive smartphones.”

For current Classic users, Blackberry says it will continue to actively support BlackBerry 10 with software updates and are on track to deliver version 10.3.3 next month, with a second update to follow next year.