BlackBerry has been struggling for some time now so the news that the company will stop making its own phones soon isn’t a major surprise. This is exactly what BlackBerry announced today. The company will no longer make its own phones.

But, no, this does not mean that BlackBerry phones will vanish from the world. It only means that BlackBerry will not make its own phones. Here’s the breakdown.

Third Party Manufacturers

Like the subheading says, BlackBerry will outsource its phones and all components within its phones to third party manufacturers. In the meantime, BlackBerry will focus on security products and developing its own software. This is a direction that BlackBerry has wanted to go in for some time now.

As for the companies that BlackBerry will outsource to, the company will find the right partners for each of its phones and other devices related to smartphones. BlackBerry recently outsourced the company’s latest Android phone, and that plan worked out better for the Canadian company as a whole.

Failing on the Consumer Side

While BlackBerry phones were once popular with consumers that’s not the case any longer. As BlackBerry phones dwindled in popularity so did sales. In the second quarter, BlackBerry smartphone sales totaled less than 0.1% of smartphone sales. That’s not a good thing for any company considering reviving its consumer smartphone lineup.

So while BlackBerry switches to software and security the consumer side of the company will largely take a backseat. You’ll still see BlackBerry phones on the market but those will be manufactured by third party partners. So what’s BlackBerry been working on instead? The company has a few things in the works at the moment.

BlackBerry’s Newest Directions

Right now, BlackBerry is focusing on BlackBerry Radar and BlackBerry Hub+. The former is an end-to-end asset tracking software option for the Internet of things. The latter option is a productivity suite for Android. Regardless of BlackBerry’s success with software options the company still saw a revenue loss this last quarter.

What you might see from BlackBerry in the near future is more software options and additional security programs from BlackBerry. The company has to find a way to stay alive and consumer smartphones and other consumer products just wasn’t cutting it.

So while BlackBerry won’t necessarily be on the consumer scene for a while (or possibly not ever again), the company is not dying outright. BlackBerry spokespeople have stated that the company’s projections for the future look good as well.

Even though it might seem sad to some people that once loved BlackBerry phones, if you think about it BlackBerry was always a security company - it just so happened that the secure BlackBerry phone and messaging system became popular with consumers too.

It should also be stated that even though BlackBerry is contracting out its phones now, the company is still putting it name on quality items. So if you’re in the market for a new smartphone the BlackBerry phones that are out there right now shouldn’t be discounted.