BlackBerry KEYone Sold Out Online In The US As TCL Announces 'Extremely High' Demand

The BlackBerry KEYone is now sold out online in the United States as demand for the handset is said to be “extremely high.” The high demand for the new BlackBerry Android smartphone is also the reason why TCL is having trouble keeping it in stock.

“Today has been an extraordinary day for the launch of the @BBMobile #KEYone here in North America,” TCL president Steve Cistulli said in a series of tweets. “Demand has been extremely high and it’s encouraging to see this level of excitement and momentum around our BlackBerry smartphone launch.”

Cistulli then admitted that a lot of its customers are facing a lot of issues regarding stocks. The TCL president also added that they are now working closely with its retail partners to ensure additional stock of the KEYone.

The BlackBerry KEYone is now sold out from BlackBerry’s website and is currently only available in select Best Buy stores, according to GSM Arena. Amazon has already sold out the KEYone in both CDMA and GSM versions, and the handset is labeled as Amazon USA’s number 1 best seller.

The BlackBerry KEYone was first revealed earlier this year during the Mobile World Congress 2017. The device features a 4.5-inch 1080p full HD display, and underneath sits BlackBerry’s signature physical QWERTY keyboard. It runs Android 7.1 Nougat and comes with BlackBerry’s proprietary security software.

With the BlackBerry KEYone, TCL has managed to to deliver an Android smartphone featuring BlackBerry’s signature physical keyboard without a daunting price tag. The KEYone sells in the U.S. for $549.99.

TCL, the manufacturer of the handset and current owner of the BlackBerry brand, has made previous attempts at making a commercially successful Android BlackBerry smartphone, but it looks like it has now hit the jackpot with the KEYone.

The BlackBerry DTEK50 and DTEK 60, which were both released in 2016, ditched the physical keyboard in favor of an all-touchscreen design. Both featured mid-range specs and were simply repurposed versions of TCL’s Alcatel Idol 4 and Idol 4S. The phones. The phones never really caught on with consumers.

Back in 2015, BlackBerry debuted its first ever smartphone running Google’s Android operating system with the BlackBerry PRIV. The phone featured 5.43-inch display and a physical QWERTY keyboard which slides out from its back.

Although the handset garnered much attention from consumers, it was heavily criticized for being too expensive with its unlocked price tag of $700. Consumers felt like they could get a better smartphone for the same price or even less.

AT&T confirmed in June 2016 that emand for the phone was low, and that it was "struggling." The PRIV was BlackBerry Limited’s first and last time to manufacture an Android smartphone on its own before TCL took over the manufacturing duties. The PRIV was officially discontinued in May 2017.

TCL’s strategy appears to be working. With the DTEK series, it tried to offer more affordable devices and distancing itself as much as it can from the PRIV. Granted, the DTEK series wasn’t really a huge success, but it did help TCL to come out with the BlackBerry KEYone which looks like a balanced blend of the PRIV and DTEK handsets.