BlackBerry apparently has more plans for releasing new handsets in 2017, according to comments made by an executive of the firm's manufacturing partner.

Speaking to CNET following the launch of the BlackBerry KEYone (aka BlackBerry Mercury) at MWC 2017, Nicolas Zibell, an executive of TCL Communications, suggested three devices would arrive this year.

TCL is the firm which now produces devices on BlackBerry's behalf, under the BlackBerry brand, so far it has manufactured the BlackBerry DTEK50 and BlackBerry DTEK60, both of which run Android. It was also involved in bringing the DTEK70, which is the BlackBerry KEYone, to market, but this was designed in-house at BlackBerry.

The report also cited other sources which indicated that BlackBerry and TCL are planning to create successor models to the DTEK50 and DTEK60, again with touchscreens and Android rather than physical keyboards; apparently, however, the DTEK branding is being dropped, for reasons unknown.

On a possibly related, or possibly unrelated note, leaked images have emerged of a BlackBerry branded smartphone apparently destined for the budget device market in Indonesia. The catch here is this is NOT a TCL-made device but may instead be the product of a licensing deal with PT BB Merah Putih. It's reportedly powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 CPU clocked at 1.4GHz and with 4GB of RAM; the display is a 5.5in 720p touchscreen; and there's 32GB of onboard storage space. It also supports dual-SIM and packs a hefty 3,000mAh battery.