T-Mobile might sell the BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) Passport after all given the companies have reportedly mended their dispute. Earlier this year, T-Mobile discontinued selling BlackBerry handsets in the wake of declining demand, resulting in a strained relationship. An image posted on OurBerries website, shows BlackBerry Passport with a T-Mobile logo at the back.
Can Passport revive Blackberry?
Passport is a much-discussed device from BlackBerry, and over a hundred pictures have surfaced to date. Also, all major specifications of the gadget are already known to tech enthusiasts. However, the company has decided not to launch the Passport officially until September 23rd.
Passport will be powered by the new BB10.3 OS and will sport a physical keyboard and a touch sensitive trackpad. For many watchers and tech experts, Passport is oddly designed with an unusual aspect ratio and a square design, but the the phone is clearly loaded. Passport has a 4.5-inch 1440 x 1440 display with 480PPI, Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 or 801 chipset, 3GB RAM, 13MP rear camera with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), F2.0 aperture lens, 3450mAh battery, 2MP front-facing camera, and LTE connectivity.
Passport is apparently a device worth waiting for, and could revive BlackBerry from its doldrums. The phone is a potential silver lining for the dwindling share price of BlackBerry over the past few quarters. The United States is one of the most important markets for smartphones, which is why the performance of Passport in the U.S. will be decisive, where its current market share is less than 1%.
Hardware more important than software
Analyst Maynard Um of Wells Fargo has maintained a Market Perform rating on the Canadian firm ahead of the Passport-related media events on September 24th and the next event to be held in November for BlackBerry “Classic.”
Um believes that the company’s “hardware launches will be the key driver to achieving near-term profitability and to buying time while the business model shifts.” The Canadian smartphone maker is set to post second-quarter earnings on September 26th. Um believes that guidance for the November quarter could be better even after lower blended gross margin due to higher hardware mix and higher opex for the launch.
