Alicia Keys and BlackBerry will cut ties at the end of January, just one year after the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter was hired as a “global creative director” for the struggling smartphone maker.
This was confirmed on Thursday by the Canadian Company of the singer’s upcoming departure.
This comes as BlackBerry retreats from the consumer market to focus on businesses, governments and other large organisations.
“BlackBerry and Alicia Keys have completed our year-long collaboration,We have enjoyed the opportunity to work with such an incredibly talented and passionate individual” the company said.
Alicia Keys was hired when the company launched its long-delayed BlackBerry 10 devices in January last year. The new phones were seen as BlackBerry’s last chance to win back market share lost toApple’s iPhone and devices using Google’s Android software. But sales flopped, triggering billions of dollars in losses and forcing BlackBerry to slash its staff.
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The company has tried and failed to sell itself. The chief executive who hired Keys has left, along with many of his senior executives.
In her BlackBerry role, Keys contributed to a collaborative project encouraging fans to submit photographs that later appeared in music videos tied to her tour.
Shortly after taking the job, a tweet from her verified Twitter account appeared to have been sent from an iPhone. Keys said at the time her account had been hacked.
Source: www.smh.com
