Struggling smartphone manufacturer BlackBerry announced on Monday that it is planning to launch Android smartphones aimed at the mid-range price bracket this year.

BlackBerry chief executive officer John Chen said that the $700 price tag of the BlackBerry Priv is too expensive and the company aims to release a smartphone somewhere in the $400 price point. 

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In an interview with The National, Chen said, "A lot of enterprise customers have said to us, 'I want to buy your phone, but $700 is a little too steep for me. I'm more interested in a $400 device.'"

The report added that BlackBerry is planning to launch two mid-range devices running on Android platform this year. One of the two devices will have the BlackBerry trademark physical keyboard while the other one will sport a full touchscreen feature.

Following the announcement, several leaked images believed to belong to the two BlackBerry devices have surfaced on several tech blogging websites.

BlackBerry entered the Android market last year with its flagship device, the Priv, which is the company's first ever Android smartphone. Since its launch, the Priv failed to capitalize in the market, especially in the overly crowded Android market where it faced stiff competitions from tech giants like Samsung and LG. In the last quarter, BlackBerry Priv sales dropped to just 600,000 units.

According to The Verge, the two upcoming BlackBerry smartphones are codenamed Rome and Hamburg. Slashing the price off its devices means that BlackBerry should cut some corners. However, the company promises that all its upcoming devices will still have the security features that made the company famous back in the days.

Several market analysts agree that the two upcoming devices will play a crucial role in BlackBerry's future as a hardware manufacturer. Chen previously targeted at least five million units sold per year in order to keep the company afloat and if he does not get there, he will be forced to abandon the effort.

TagsBlackberry, Blackberry News, BlackBerry CEO, Blackberry Priv, Priv, BlackBerry Android, Android, Android Priv, Android BlackBerry