Ford could be dumping Microsoft in its cars for BlackBerry

This is interesting. Ford’s relationship with Microsoft looks set to end with reports that the Detroit automaker could be ditching the Redmond-based tech giant for BlackBerry.

According to Bloomberg, there are a couple of reasons Ford is thinking of dumping Microsoft in its on-board Sync system in favour of BlackBerry’s QNX system.

The first is that using QNX is less expensive in terms of licensing and the second is that it could improve the speed and flexibility of the Sync system.

If the reports are true then it could have a massive impact for BlackBerry. Ford has around 7-million vehicles on the road with Sync built into them and that number will only grow as consumer car tech becomes more widely available.

“This would be a huge infusion of trust and confidence to have BlackBerry and QNX expanding into a Ford,” Thilo Koslowski, auto analyst for research company Gartner told Bloomberg. “This is really the crown jewel in BlackBerry’s crown and could make the rest of the company shine as well.”

QNX is one of the few areas of BlackBerry that’s been relatively stable over the past few years, but going for it over Microsoft would still be a gamble on Ford’s part.

For Microsoft, losing its partnership with Ford could potentially be disastrous, especially as Android and Apple make advances in the car space.