There was a time in history when BlackBerry was considered one of the most innovative technology brands. Unmatched security and reliability were the key factors of BlackBerry's success. I'm sure many of you remember BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), which was built into the company's devices. BlackBerry's vanishing from the industry significantly reduced the users of the service. Emtek, which owns the rights on BBM, tried to make a comeback by implementing new modern features like payments and cross-platform support into BlackBerry Messenger. Three years have passed, and time has shown that there is no comeback story for BBM.

Today, Emtek is announcing that the consumer version of BlackBerry Messenger will be retired on May 31st. If you were an active user of the service, they suggest you login now and download your photos, videos, or any other file worth saving. You will not be able to access your account after the mentioned deadline. Emtek is claiming that the fierce competition in the applications and services industry pushed the company to make the unfortunate decision. According to the report from 2018, the platform had more than 63 million users in Indonesia alone. But, as it turns out, it is not enough for Emtek.

There is some good news for loyal BBM users. BlackBerry Limited still owns  BBM Enterprise, which is the end-to-end encrypted platform for the enterprise market. In light of Emtek ending the consumer service, BlackBerry Limited it making the enterprise version free for one year. That should give consumers more time to transition off the platform. After that first year, BBMe costs $2.50 for a 6-month subscription.

BBM Enterprise Developer: BlackBerry Limited
Price: Free
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Source 1: BBM Blog Source 2: PR Newswire