BlackBerry plotted to settle a class action lawsuit accusing the former smartphone maker of misleading shareholders about the sales prospects for BlackBerry 10 devices, Reuters reported.
A US district court judge reportedly granted a request by lawyers for BlackBerry and the shareholders to adjourn the legal action, allowing the company to negotiate a preliminary settlement and potentially avoid a trial.
Reuters noted jury selection for the trial had been due to start today (7 April).
The move is the latest development in a case running for more than eight years: shareholders accused the vendor of inflating its stock price and hiding BlackBerry 10’s true sales prospects in public statements made in 2013.
While the BlackBerry 10 received positive feedback from critics, it never became popular commercially.
BlackBerry eventually stopped making its own phones in 2016 and since reinvented itself as a software company with a focus on cybersecurity.
It finally decommissioned the infrastructure and services used by its legacy software and phone operating systems in January.
Plans to revive the BlackBerry smartphone brand have also not borne fruit.
Onward Mobility, the company aiming to bring a 5G BlackBerry to market, recently abandoned its project to develop and launch a keyboard-toting handset, with the business closing.
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