Blackberry

In a 22 December statement, the company reminded users of the development, which will affect services for all of its devices not running on Android software, including the BlackBerry 10, 7.1 OS and earlier.

"As of this date, devices running these legacy services and software through either carrier or Wi-Fi connections will no longer reliably function, including for data, phone calls, SMS and 9-1-1 functionality,” the statement says.

Once a market leader, the company has struggled to keep pace with modern handsets produced by rivals such as Apple and Samsung.

In May, the company's chief executive, John Chen, said he would know by September whether the hardware business was likely to become profitable.

Now, Blackberry says it will outsource hardware development to partners.

But the company has not yet confirmed when any further Blackberry phones will be released.

But the Canadian firm has assured its loyalists that it is working on alternatives to the Facebook-owned messaging service.

"We are working on other options," said BlackBerry in a Twitter post, which also assured Priv users that WhatsApp support is set to continue for them.

The BlackBerry Priv is the company's debut Android device, a handset that combines the Google OS with the firm's love of physical keyboards.

The smartphone industry pioneer, which is pivoting to focus more on security software and services as the popularity of its devices have waned, said it sees massive potential in the area, with cyber security consulting currently worth an estimated $16.5 billion a year globally.

Company CEO John Chen has confirmed that a second Android handset is in the works for 2016, with the possibility of more to follow.

A BlackBerry handset codenamed 'Vienna' was leaked last year, but there is no word on whether this is the successor to the Priv.

So, what does BlackBerry's commitment to Android mean for its own BB10 operating system? Well, Chen seems hopeful that the success of the Priv will put BlackBerry back on the map, paving the way for a variety of different devices in the future.

The Canadian company sold only 1.1 million phones in its first quarter, a fall of 500,000 from the previous quarter. BlackBerry reported a loss of $28 million or 5 cents a share from revenues of $658 million.

This represents an improvement on last year’s numbers where for the same period under review, BlackBerry made a loss of $60 million, or 11 cents a share on revenues of $966 million.