Chinese electronics giant TCL is expected to release a new line of BlackBerry smartphones equipped with full QWERTY keyboards.

From the released images so far, the new smart phone is code-named Mercury. Steve Cistulli, TCL's General Manager for North America, has already started teasing the phone on his social media account.

Insiders predict the latest BlackBerry smartphones are likely to make a debut at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show, which is to be held in Las Vegas from January 5 to 8, 2017.

BlackBerry announced last week that it has reached a long-term licensing agreement with TCL, which authorized the latter to design, make, sell and support BlackBerry-branded mobile devices worldwide, with the exceptions of India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and Indonesia.

According to the agreement, the devices made by TCL will be coupled with security software and service suites provided by BlackBerry.

Analysts say this collaboration meets BlackBerry's strategic ambition of shifting its business focus to making software and managing mobile devices, which is looking more promising and profitable, after the company has yielded a large proportion of its global market share to rivals including Apple and Samsung.

By taking on the brand equity of BlackBerry, TCL is inclined to further consolidate its status in the global smartphone market and re-launch BlackBerry to the world as a high-end brand, said a TCL insider.

Established in 1981, TCL is well-known in the industry as a manufacturer and seller of telephones and related equipment. The company now employs 75,000 people in 80 countries.