BlackBerry’s new Foxconn phone will cost under $200 off-contract

Sitting down with the press during CES 2014, BlackBerry outlined its strategy for 2014. The company reportedly plans to launch two new smartphones this year: an entry-level sub-$200 touchscreen device designed and manufactured through a partnership with Chinese manufacturer Foxconn, and a high-end handset developed entirely in-house.

BlackBerry will likely have at least two smartphones hitting the market this year. That’s according to BlackBerry CEO John Chen, who spoke to the media in a roundtable at the Consumer Electronics Show here Tuesday. The company is working on a Foxconn-built touch-screen smartphone that he said will be priced under $200. He also teased another, and higher-end, smartphone that would include a traditional keyboard, which would be designed in-house. The devices signal that BlackBerry isn’t quite ready to give up on selling smartphones to consumers, although it won’t repeat the flashy — yet ultimately doomed — attempt to take on leading smartphones such as the Apple iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S4.