Blackberry to stop making phones after 14 years as Apple and Samsung dominate the industry

The mobile phone manufacturer Blackberry has announced that it will no longer manufacture its own smartphones after a rollercoaster 14 years in the business.

Once upon a time, the QWERTY keyboard-equipped phones were the choice of businessmen, executives and even 

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But they fell upon hard times as the world moved over to the sort of touchscreen phones made by Apple or Samsung.

"The company plans to end all internal hardware development and will outsource that function to our partners," said John Chen, chief executive and executive chairman of Blackberry. "We are focusing on software development, including security and applications."

Blackberry recorded losses of $372m (£286m) in the last quarter, but made a profit of $51m at the same time last year.

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President Obama was one of the world's most committed Blackberry fans and was the first leader of the free world to use the gadget.

But even Barack was forced to give up his beloved Blackberry and swap to a more secure phone earlier this year.

Once upon a time, the devices were known as "Crackberries" for their addictive qualities, with Madonna reportedly known to sleep with one underneath her pillow.

Sadly, the world will now have to go cold turkey from their old addiction.

Blackberry has just released a gizmo called the Dtek50 which is described as the "the world's most secure Android smartphone".

Sadly, not even a flirtation with a different operating system was enough to secure its own future as a phone manufacturer.

Bye bye Blackberry.