BlackBerry is hoping its new unconventional smartphone will be a passport back to profit

BlackBerry is hoping its new unconventional smartphone will be a passport back to profit

Called the Passport, based on the shape and size, the handset is crucial to the Canadian company’s turnaround. A larger square touchscreen device, but also with a keyboard, it is BlackBerry’s first major new phone in nearly two years.

Chief Executive John Chen, after a three-year restructuring process, needs to claw back ground lost to rivals in both the hardware and services. BlackBerry’s phones had just 0.5 percent of the market based on shipments between April and June this year.