BlackBerry parts company with Alicia Keys

Alicia Keys speaks at the BlackBerry 10 launch event in Janaury last year. Picture: Getty

Struggling smartphone maker Blackberry is to part ways with Alicia Keys at the end of this month, just a year after hiring the singer-songwriter as its “global creative director”.

The Canadian firm appointed her in January last year, when it launched its Blackberry 10 devices, which have failed to make inroads into a market dominated by Apple’s iPhone and rivals using Google’s Android operating system.

A spokesman said: “BlackBerry and Alicia Keys have completed our year-long collaboration. We have enjoyed the opportunity to work with such a talented and passionate individual.”

The company abandoned a plan to sell itself to its biggest shareholder, Fairfax Financial Holdings, and last month revealed that stock write-downs and other charges had pushed it to a net loss of $4.4 billion (£2.7bn).

Under the leadership of interim chief executive John Chen BlackBerry is focussing on corporate and government customers.