Is this the end for Blackberry?

Blackberry might be better known for its iconic smartphones, but in recent years it has been powering millions of cars and devices across the Internet of Things (ioT).

The Canadian company is now rebranding its automotive and IoT business under the brand of its real time operating system, QNX.

At the same time it has sold off its Cylance endpoint security assets to competitor Artic Wolf for $160m in cash and shares.

The decision to rename the division as QNX and the strategic relaunch the QNX brand was shaped by input from customers, partners, employees and other stakeholders and the company says this is an important milestone in the history of QNX for Software-Defined Vehicles and mission-critical IoT systems.

All this points to a more detailed rebranding of the company from Blackberry to QNX as over the coming months, additional platforms and products may be updated to reflect the division’s new identity, including the myQNX development environment. This is likely to be ahead of a spin out of QNX as a separate business, leaving Blackberry as a security software developer.

• QNX brings containers to trusted software
• Simplified scheduling for SDVs using QNX8
• Vector teams for software defined vehicles

“Relaunching the QNX brand is an important step in BlackBerry’s broader strategy to increase our visibility and fortify our leadership within the automotive and embedded industries, with a view to better positioning us  for sustained growth and success,” said John Giamatteo, CEO at BlackBerry. “The values that QNX stands for have always been a cornerstone for our customers and this brand relaunch honours that strong history while setting the stage for the division to fire on all cylinders and drive smarter, safer, and faster innovation through precision-engineered performance.”

“BlackBerry is at an inflection point and QNX is well positioned for the next 10 years as the demand for advanced hybrid cloud/edge computing capabilities becomes crucial for driving a software-defined future. The investments we have made over the last three years have set us on a well-defined path to capitalize on these trends,” said Mattias Eriksson, President, QNX.

“Couple these strong fundamentals with an enviable IP portfolio and a customer and partner base, representing the most advanced technology companies in the world, who are constantly accelerating our joint long term innovation and it’s easy to see why QNX has never been stronger. Amidst that backdrop we’re thrilled to be leaning into that widespread optimism and potential, reviving a brand that so many of have looked to over the years to help them turn the impossible into the achievable.”

QNX was founded in 1980 by two University of Waterloo graduates as Quantum Software Systems. Initially called QUNIX, the operating system was renamed QNX in 1984, with the company name following suit.

QNX 2, introduced in the early 1980s, still powers countless mission-critical systems today. In 1991, QNX 4 launched with 32-bit operations and POSIX support, followed by the QNX Neutrino RTOS in 1995. The company was acquired by audio company Harman in 2004 and later by BlackBerry in 2010 when Harman was acquired by Samsung.

Last year it made its largest product announcement in over a decade with the launch of the QNX Software Development Platform (SDP) 8.0, a scalable foundation for next-generation automotive and IoT systems, alongside QNX Sound, an audio platform for SDVs, and QNX Everywhere, an initiative designed to spur a more open development environment for QNX technologies.

This gives QNX has nearly 45 years of embedded software expertise with a rich intellectual property portfolio and the OS is used on more than 255 million vehicles on the road and a broad range of critical embedded systems including medical devices, industrial controls, transportation, heavy machinery and robotics, among others.

Blackberry had been building up a cybersecurity business before the Artic Wolf deal.

“We see this transaction as a win-win for our shareholders and all other stakeholders. Our customers will realize the benefits of continuity of service and the expertise that a global cybersecurity leader like Arctic Wolf provides,” said Giamatteo. “Arctic Wolf benefits by adding Cylance’s endpoint security solutions to its native platform. Finally, as Arctic Wolf leverages its scale to build upon and grow the Cylance business, BlackBerry will benefit as a reseller of the portfolio to our large government customers and as a shareholder of the company.”

There will be no impact to BlackBerry’s Secure Communications portfolio of businesses, which include BlackBerry UEM, AtHoc and SecuSUITE. The Secure Communications business will remain an integral part of the BlackBerry portfolio.

“Organizations are looking to unify tools and operations via a single platform that can effectively analyze and respond to security threats, drive consistent security outcomes, and demonstrably minimize risk,” said Dan Schiappa, chief product and services officer, Arctic Wolf. “In the past, this has been a near-impossible, costly goal for resource-constrained leaders. By adding endpoint security to our platform, we will be delivering the security outcomes organizations want in one, frictionless operational platform to go toe-to-toe with today’s advanced threats, while maintaining our commitment to customers and partners leveraging other endpoint solutions.”