Comeback kids: Nokia goes low while BlackBerry aims high -- for now

From CNET: When Steve Jobs launched the original iPhone in 2007, its revolutionary all-touchscreen design blew away the then-dominant keyboard phones of the day: the Moto Q, Palm Treo, Nokia E62 and BlackBerry Pearl.

Back then, Nokia and BlackBerry were the smartphone standard-bearers and Apple was the daring upstart. Now, as the iPhone celebrates its 10th anniversary with strong sales and growing global marketshare, the erstwhile kings of mobile are faced with a rare, slim shot at keeping their names alive after years of irrelevance and obscurity. BlackBerry with a phone rumored to be named "Mercury" (the latest to sport their flagship physical keyboard) and Nokia with the 6 (a midranger recently released for China).

The funny thing is that neither Nokia nor BlackBerry will actually make the phones that bear their names. The Nokia brand is licensed by HMD (and manufactured by Foxconn FIH Mobile). BlackBerry still owns proprietary software like BlackBerry Hub, but a company called TCL has licensed the rights to make the phone. (TCL, a Chinese company that's had recent success with Roku TVs in the US, also makes devices like 2016's Alcatel Idol 4.)

Nokia and BlackBerry have similar ambitions, but different ways of getting there. BlackBerry's "Mercury" aims for the high end (we don't know how high, but they tell us "premium"), while Nokia's 6 is firmly in the midrange, with a sale price in China that converts to about $250, £200 and AU$330. Although we don't know much about HMD's plans for Nokia's roster of phones, we do know it plans to dole out $500 million over the next three years on global marketing.

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