Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry on today bought rival mobile security provider Good Technology for USD 425 million in a move to broaden its software sales.
With its consumer smartphone sales sagging in recent years, BlackBerry turned to mobile security for governments and corporations, a market in which Good Technology also operates.
Good Technology of Sunnyvale, California serves more than 6,200 organizations, including banks, aerospace and defense firms, as well as healthcare, manufacturing and retail firms. Its software secures devices that use mostly Apple, but also Android and Windows operating systems.
BlackBerry is the mobility partner of all G7 governments, 16 of the G20 governments, the world's top banks and law firms as well as healthcare, investment and oil and gas companies. Blackberry's strength is in security for its own BBM operating system as well as Android.
"Enhanced by Good, BlackBerry will expand its ability to offer a unified, secure mobility platform with applications for any mobile device on any operating system -- supported with security that has been certified by governments around the world embedded in every component of the mobility infrastructure," BlackBerry said in a statement.
