CES 2020: BlackBerry lands QNX deals with Renovo, Damon Motorcycles
BlackBerry is using CES 2020 to highlight its BlackBerry QNX software and its role in connected and autonomous vehicles.
Also: More CES coverage at CNET
The company announced two partnerships. The first is a partnership between QNX and Renovo, which has a data management platform used for autonomous and connected vehicles and the large datasets that go with them. The second partnership is between QNX and Damon Motorcycles to use a BlackBerry QNX powered advanced warning system in its electric motorcycles.
For BlackBerry, QNX is the flagship of its enterprise software efforts. QNX has a key role in the Internet of Things and has momentum in the automotive market. For instance, BlackBerry QNX recently landed two design wins with Hyundai Autron, an electronic control software player, and partnered with Bosch-owned ETAS for developing a safety platform.
Details of the partnerships at CES 2020 for BlackBerry QNX include:
- Renovo and QNX will jointly develop and market safety-critical data management tools for connected and autonomous vehicles. Specifically, BlackBerry's QNX ISO 26262 safety-certified real-time operating system will integrate with Renovo's Insight data platform. The two companies plan do deliver a development platform to scale safety systems. QNX is in 150 million cars on the road today, including Renovo's autonomous test fleet.
- Damon will license BlackBerry QNX to be the foundation of its Damon CoPilot warning system on its flagship electric motorcycle. Damon is unveiling its Hypersport Pro superbike at CES. Damon's CoPilot uses radar, cameras, and sensors to track the speed, direction, and velocity of moving objects around the motorcycle.
For the quarter ending Nov. 30, BlackBerry reported a third-quarter net loss of 7 cents a share on revenue of $267 million, up 18% from a year ago. BlackBerry's IoT revenue in the quarter was $145 million, down from $148 million a year ago.
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BlackBerry plans to continue to land design wins for QNX and deliver its BlackBerry Spark IoT platform as well as integrate security firm Cylance, which was acquired last year.
On a conference call after BlackBerry's third-quarter results, Chen said, "QNX continued to perform well." He added:
In the quarter, we had a total of 31 design wins of which 11 were in the Automotive market and 20 were in the general embedded market. Within the general embedded market, we are experiencing good demand in the industrial vertical. There were several very positive developments in the quarter that align with BlackBerry QNX's strategic goals of increasing ARPU and volume in the Auto sectors.