Cosmic Technologies, owner of the Cherry Mobile brand in the Philippines, has announced that it is buying into dying handset manufacturer BlackBerry for an estimated $780 Million (or Php33.75 billion).
The planned acquisition is a move by Cherry Mobile to go into the global market after becoming the No 1. smartphone vendor in the Philippines in the last couple of years.
With the highest market share of smartphones in the Philippines, it is estimated that Cherry Mobile shipped close to 8.8 million handsets in 2014 while rival MyPhone, which is ranked #3, shipped an estimated 4.5 million that same year.
Cosmic Technologies will retain the BlackBerry label in the United States and Europe but hopes to also re-brand itself here in the Philippines and the rest of South East Asia. From Cherry Mobile, it will soon operate under the brand “Cherry Berry” which, according to the company, represents mobile devices that are not only affordable but also feature top notch security that BlackBerry is known for.
Acquisition is still ongoing but is expected to finish by late 2015 or early 2016. The first Cherry Berry devices are expected to be introduced by then.
It’s one thing to ride the April Fools bandwagon… it’s another thing to be really corny at it.