T-Mobile will no longer carry BlackBerry smartphones in its stores

It’s getting only tougher for struggling BlackBerry as T-Mobile, one of the top U.S. carriers, said it will no longer sell the Canadian smartphones in its stores.

The only customers who are still interested in purchasing BlackBerry are business professionals, and they do not buy their devices in stores, said David Carey, T-Mobile’s executive vice president for corporate services, according to a Reuters report.

“Keeping stock in the retail distribution system was inefficient,” Carey told Reuters.

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The T-Mobile announcement is another major blow to BlackBerry’s prospects.

The Canadian phone manufacturer was once the leader in mobile, but after the launch of the Apple iPhone and smartphones that run Google’s Android platform, BlackBerry began slipping in both market share and innovation.

Now, BlackBerry is practically irrelevant in the U.S. consumer market.

The company has struggled so much it put itself up for a sale. BlackBerry reached a deal this week with Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. to be bought for $4.7 billion. BlackBerry shareholders will receive $9 per share under the tentative deal.

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