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On February 25, 2014, at Mobile World Congress BlackBerry announced two new devices. The first, the BlackBerry Z3 (pictured above) will be exclusive to Indonesia for some reason. The second device, BlackBerry Q20 will feature the company’s physical QWERTY keyboard, as well as the “‘Menu’, ‘Back’, ‘Send’ and ‘End’ buttons and the integrated trackpad to enable the fast efficient navigation and one-handed use that has endeared the brand to its QWERTY customers.”¹

The Indonesian phone, the BlackBerry Z3, is the result of a new partnership with Foxconn – the manufacturing contractor that builds the iPad, iPhone, iPod, Kindle, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Playstation 4, Wii, and Wii U. Foxconn’s Founder and Chairman, Terry Gou, shed a little light on the decision to release the Z3 to Indonesia exclusively:

BlackBerry is beloved in Indonesia and its loyal fans have made it a popular smartphone brand. This is why we are so proud to be able to help bring BlackBerry even closer to Indonesia with a fantastic product that will be accessible to even more Indonesians. This is only the beginning of what we know will be a long and fruitful partnership between Foxconn and BlackBerry. ²

The Q20, on the other hand, is a clear shift back to what made BlackBerry great in the early days of the smartphone. The new flagship will feature everything that helped early BlackBerry’s dominate the market. John Chen, Executive Chairman and CEO at BlackBerry, made a statement on the decision to revert to the old design:

In my first 90 days on the job, I consistently heard from our ardent BlackBerry customers that the hard buttons and trackpad are an essential part of the BlackBerry QWERTY experience, that made their BlackBerry smartphone their go-to productivity tool. I want these customers to know that we heard them, and this new smartphone will be for them…Today, we’re delighted to announce the new BlackBerry Q20 smartphone, which is designed to give you the distinct experience that every BlackBerry QWERTY loyalist and high-productivity business customer absolutely loves. With the BlackBerry Q20 smartphone, you’ll get the familiar hard buttons and trackpad that you want, along with the best email service, the best keyboard experience and the best battery life possible.³

So after not listening to their customers for years, it seems that BlackBerry is finally heeding their advice. The new Q20 will be available in the second half of 2014.