BlackBerry Chief Executive John Chen Holds Up The Unreleased Blackberry Passport
BlackBerry Chief Executive John Chen holds up the unreleased Blackberry Passport device during the company's annual general meeting for shareholders in Waterloo June 19, 2014. Reuters/Mark Blinch

After several years of hiatus, BlackBerry is making news with its unique "square" phablet called BlackBerry Passport. The Passport is Chief Executive Officer John Chen's ambitious project to get the company back into growth trajectory. The device has recently been launched and the reception and reviews have been phenomenal thus far.

According to John Chen, the Passport's demand and in turn sales have exceeded the set expectations. In specific, he is happy that there is a shortfall of the business-centric BlackBerry Passport. With the strong demand shooting up, John is happy to see issues pertaining to the inventory, instead of mass-producing phablet units without ascertaining the demand. Apparently, the company targeted the 30 percent of the smartphone market with BlackBerry owners viewing their device as a business tool rather than an entertainment device, according to Phone Arena.

"I'm glad to have inventory issues. It shows that people want the phone. We took a very conservative approach and didn't order too many," says BlackBerry CEO.

In retrospect, the company sold 52.3 million smartphone units in 2010. By 2013, the sales had slumped to a worrisome 13.7 million units. This declining trend questioned the sustainability of BlackBerry when the competition from Android and iOS was skyrocketing. However, from the time CEO John took the helm and got a grip of the company, BlackBerry's reversal of fate was palpable. With so much in danger, John opted to take risk and make a device that doesn't follow the norm. The 4.5-inch square display complemented by a unique 1,440 x 1,440 pixels resolution and physical QWERTY keyboard is the ultimate device for viewing and editing spreadsheets, word documents and even emails.

Seemingly, BlackBerry is working on a successor to the Passport owing to the high demand and good reviews. In addition, the brand new BlackBerry Classic will also be unveiled sometime in November. The handset will come with a physical QWERTY trackpad and retro function keys. This smartphone will run on BlackBerry 10 OS. The mid-range Classic handset will be accompanied by budget-friendly BlackBerry Z3 targeting the emerging markets.

BlackBerry has finally found its footing with the Passport and the quest seems to continue further. Have you purchased the Passport yet? If so, feel free to leave a comment or pen down a review.

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