From a blog post by Ralph Pini, Chief Operating Officer and General Manager for Devices at BlackBerry.

To keep innovating and advancing our portfolio, we are updating our smartphone lineup with state of the art devices. As part of this, and after many successful years in the market, we will no longer manufacture BlackBerry Classic. For many years, Classic (and its BBOS predecessors) has been in our portfolio. It has been an incredible workhorse device for customers, exceeding all expectations. But, the Classic has long surpassed the average lifespan for a smartphone in today’s market. We are ready for this change so we can give our customers something better – entrenched in our legacy in security and pedigree in making the most productive smartphones.

End of an era. I adored my Blackberry phones featuring a similar form factor, starting with the Curve before moving on he the Bold series. But the company was unable to move on when it should have, so here we are.