Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) is trying to gauge the feedback of its latest Q10 device, which comes with the latest Blackberry OS, Qwerty Keypad and a consumer friendly touch screen. The keyboard has been a popular feature of Blackberry amongst the government and business users.
“A lot of people are saying we have a real hit on our hands,” said chief operating officer Kristian Tear. The latest device from Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) was up for sale in the UK over the last weekend.
Tear said that the company is looking forward to match the supply with “absolutely phenomenal” demand of Blackberry 10 from users who prefer a hard keypad over touch screens.
The price of Q10 is kept at $199.99 on a three year contract and at $700 outright, which is more than Blackberry Z10 full touch screen phone, and smartphones from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930). Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) is looking forward to roll over Q10 in the United States towards the end of this month and is in a process to launch it all over the world.
Chief Executive Thorsten Heins said in a conference that the Q10 was launched exclusively in British Department Store Selfridges. The store said that Blackberry Q10 has been its “fastest-ever selling consumer electronics product.” Heins further said that the response from British store was excellent, and the company expects to sell several tens of millions of units.
Tear is expecting that demand amongst the 76 million Blackberry customers worldwide will increase as users prefer mostly QWERTY keyboards. The Q10 is positioned for the professional market. T-Mobile the network carrier in the United States said that businesses will be able to order their phone a week before non-businesses users.
Mark Sue of RBC has estimated that sales of Blackberry devices will go up as the Blackberry Q10 is designed for an older population, and, on the other hand, Z10 is designed for the segment ruled by Android and iOS at present – the all touch screen.
Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) has announced the launch of some new handsets next year to go together with Z10 and Q10. The company also plans to launch a mid-priced touch screen and QWERTY phone, some time towards the end of fiscal 2013.
