Former smartphone manufacturer BlackBerry has
shut down its services for devices running the BlackBerry OS and BlackBerry 10 operating systems, preventing customers with these handsets from making calls, sending text messages or accessing data.
Customers were warned about the shutdown back in 2017, when BlackBerry promised a minimum of two more years' support. That was subsequently
extended until 4th January 2022, with BlackBerry saying it "chose to extend our service until this date as an expression of thanks to our loyal partners and customers".
The BlackBerry Messenger app will continue to work on Android and Apple iOS phones.
BlackBerry's market share fell from around a 20% share of the smartphone market in 2009 to less than 5% in 2012, according to figures from
Statista research.
In 2015, BlackBerry launched its
first Android-powered smartphone and in 2016 announced plans to
move from hardware development to focus on software and services.