Optiemus to make BlackBerry branded smartphones in India?

BlackBerry has completely transitioned itself into a software company providing secured services to IoT industry and Enterprise solutions. However, its secured Android based mobile software is open for licensing and has been adopted by TCL to manufacture phones and market in various regions which excludes India and its neighboring countries. Surprisingly, the official distributors of BlackBerry smartphones in India, Optiemus, is rumored to manufacture mid-tier smartphones based on BlackBerry’s ‘secured’ Android operating system.

“The company will focus on BlackBerry handsets priced between Rs 12,000 to Rs 20,000, which is the fastest growing segment in India,” said two senior industry executives to Economic Times. The Delhi-based firm will localise BlackBerry handsets completely for the Indian market and will also cater the neighboring coutries. Optiemus had recently set up a smartphone contract manufacturing operations with Taiwan’s Wistron in the country. BlackBerry handsets will be made at this facility, the executives said.