The smartphone king Apple killed is back, but not in your pocket

For much of the 2000s, BlackBerry was the defining smartphone brand. Its devices sat in the pockets of presidents, bankers, executives and government officials. Then came one of the most dramatic collapses in technology history. Apple’s iPhone changed consumer expectations, and then Android spread rapidly across price segments. BlackBerry’s once-dominant handset business unravelled with surprising speed.

A decade later, however, the Canadian company is attracting attention again. This time, it is not because of a new phone but because of software that runs inside cars, industrial systems, medical equipment and increasingly, robots. BlackBerry has completed one of the rare corporate turnarounds in the technology industry.