Chen says that if BlackBerry were to make a tablet, it wouldn’t be for the sake of making a tablet. Rather, it would be because BlackBerry wants to make a memorable product. “I want it to be different,” said Chen. “I want it to be iconic. Bringing a tablet out for tablet’s sake — It’s not the right thing to do.”
As for the name of this imaginary tablet, Chen isn’t afraid to go back to the rather weird mystery of his company’s original attempt. “We could always call it a PlayBook 2,” quipped Chen.
BlackBerry released the PlayBook back in 2011, a tablet that had its fate sealed, thanks to a lack of apps and a combination of general usage problems. Even the 2.0 update for the PlayBook, which brought native calendar and email apps that were weirdly left out in the beginning, wasn’t enough to save the tablet.
Even if BlackBerry were to try its hand again at the tablet space, the result won’t be released anytime soon. BlackBerry’s roadmap for the year includes the all-touchscreen Leap, a BlackBerry slider phone with two screens, and a smartphone with BlackBerry’s traditional keyboard. In addition, the world’s love affair with tablets might be coming to an end, as tablet sales fell for the first time since the category went mainstream in 2010 with the release of the original Apple iPad.
Regardless, BlackBerry seems to be in experimental mood when it comes to its products as of late, so never say never.
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