BlackBerry has finally ended its relationship with T-Mobile and decided not to renew the licensing contract to sell its smartphones under T-Mo's network when it expires April 25.
BlackBerry, one of the most popular smartphone making companies, has decided to end its relationship with the fourth largest carrier in the U.S., T-Mobile, for unspecified reasons.
The two companies have not been seeing eye-to-eye for a long time now. The Canadian smartphone maker announced Tuesday, April 1, 2014, that the company will not renew the licensing agreement with the carrier to sell BlackBerry smartphones once it expires April 25. The news arrived on April Fool's Day when companies like Google find new ways to sell fake stories. But the smartphone maker does not seem to be a big fan of Fools day pranks.
In an official blog post, Tuesday, BlackBerry said the termination of partnership with T-Mobile will not affect existing BlackBerry customers under the network. In fact, customers can still buy BlackBerry handsets from the carrier till the existing stocks last.
"BlackBerry has had a positive relationship with T-Mobile for many years. Regretfully, at this time, our strategies are not complementary and we must act in the best interest of our BlackBerry customers. We hope to work with T-Mobile again in the future when our business strategies are aligned," BlackBerry CEO and Executive Chair, John Chen, said in a press statement. "We are deeply grateful to our loyal BlackBerry customers and will do everything in our power to provide continued support with your existing carrier or ensure a smooth transition to our other carrier partners."
BlackBerry did not elaborate on the reasons behind the break up with T-Mobile. But the company did hint at misaligned business strategies, which was driving a wedge between them. T-Mobiles certain oves in the past few months seem have aided the breakup.
In September last year, T-Mobile yanked BlackBerry inventories from its retail stores and shipped the products to consumers only on a special request. In February, the carrier rolled out an offer targeting BlackBerry users to switch to iPhone 5S, which resulted in Chen voicing his displeasure. After Chen's reaction, T-Mobile's flamboyant CEO John Legere responded with a mocking tweet. This further added to the increasing disagreements between the two companies though T-Mobile tried to make amends with BlackBerry-exclusive offers.
BlackBerry continues to offer its corporate-favorite handsets through other carriers in the U.S., including Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint.
