BlackBerry Messenger has gone black after 13 years

BlackBerry Messenger went black last Friday. The number of users of the service has been declining for some time and the company has therefore decided to put an end to it. However, the enterprise version of BBM has been opened up to individual users to accommodate the fanatics.

“We’ve put our heart and soul into this service and we’re proud of what we’ve built to date,” BlackBerry wrote in a blog post at the time of the announcement. “However, the technology sector is very volatile and despite our best efforts, users have moved on to other services.”

In its heyday, around 2012, BlackBerry had more than 75 million subscribers worldwide for its services, but since then the company’s market position has deteriorated significantly, mainly due to fierce competition from iOS and Android. The company is no longer concerned with its own phones with its own BlackBerry OS, but now releases Android devices, many with a physical keyboard. His apps are also available for Android.

BlackBerry also has lawsuits pending against Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter for patent infringement. BlackBerry believes that the companies benefit from technologies that BlackBerry has patented.