Pssst... Wanna buy a dead BlackBerry?
Online searches for 'Sell BlackBerry' rocketed 1,528 percent today as the company announced it would be ending support for the operating system used on its phones.
Analysis by VpnOverview shows interest in selling Blackberry phones is 16 times the daily average. Searches on Google for 'BlackBerry phones' were also up 590 percent.
A VpnOverview spokesperson says, "BlackBerry was the go-to smartphone brand in the early 2010s with the brand’s phones being easily recognised because of their qwerty keyboards. In more recent years, BlackBerry has fallen behind companies like Apple and Samsung in the smartphone market. Customers could be looking to sell not only because they are unable to use the device but also to profit from the vintage aspect the phone will now adopt."
Given the number of phones the company has sold over the years -- they were once the darling of city and finance types thanks to their security features -- it seems unlikely that your old BlackBerry is suddenly about to become a treasured heirloom or a museum artefact.
Although the withdrawal of support isn't unexpected, it means that the small number of remaining BlackBerry devices won't be able to access data, make phone calls or send text messages. The BlackBerry Messenger app will continue to work on Android and iOS devices for a while yet.
As far as phones go then it's bye bye BlackBerry, though this doesn't mean the end of the company. BlackBerry is shifting its focus to enterprise cybersecurity and announced in September last year that it had agreed a sale of its mobile patents to an un-named buyer.
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