BlackBerry 10 launch ‘beyond expectation’ says CEO
BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins has suggested that reaction to the recent BlackBerry 10 launch has been “beyond expectation” as the white BlackBerry Z10 handset sells out.
Suggesting that the Canadian company is on its way to regaining lost ground on smartphone giants iOS and Android, Heins, speaking in a recent interview, has suggested that BlackBerry Z10 sales have exceeded expectation, with UK stocks of the white BlackBerry Z10 already running dry.
“It’s beyond expectations,” Heins said when questions on the opening week of BlackBerry Z10 sales. “White is sold out already. The black is hard to stock up again. It’s very encouraging.”
Claiming that the new BlackBerry 10 OS and BlackBerry Z10 handset are already eating into the market share of their iOS and Android rivals, Heins added: “I won’t share the number because I need to verify it, but we are getting a substantial number of users moving from other platforms to BlackBerry. That is an interesting data point.”
Revealing the BlackBerry Z10 was primarily intended to coax existing BlackBerry users across to the new BlackBerry 10 platform, the BlackBerry CEO has stated that the company will face an uphill struggle to regain traction in US markets, an area Heins has pinpointed as a potential make or break sector for the company formally known as RIM.
“We need to win back market share to be relevant,” Heins told Associated Press. “We have to be aggressive in the US market.”
Confirming that the US BlackBerry Z10 release date has been forced to be held off until mid-March until the handset is approved by the country’s rigid testing systems, Heins suggested that he was ‘disappointed’ by the fragmented launch which will see US markets receive the first BlackBerry 10 handset more than a month after the UK.
“Am I disappointed? Yeah, I would be lying saying no,” Heins said. He added: “It is what it is and we’re working with all our carrier partners to speed it up as much as we can.”
BlackBerry Z10 Specs
Officially launched in the UK last week, the BlackBerry Z10 is the first BlackBerry 10 handset to hit the market, with the 4.2-inch device ditching BlackBerry’s physical QWERTY keyboard in favour of a 1280 x 768p LCD display.
With a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor running the show, the BlackBerry Z10 specs sheet is further enhanced by 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage, expandable via microSD. Lining up at just 9mm thick, the BlackBerry Z10 hosts an 11 hour talk time battery life and is 4G connectivity compatible.
Boasting an 8-megapixel rear-mounted camera with 5x digital zoom and 1080p Full HD video recording capabilities, the BlackBerry Z10 features list is rounded off by a second, 2-megapixel camera up front.
Have you already snapped up a new BlackBerry Z10? What do you make of the first BlackBerry 10 handset? Let us know via the TrustedReviews Twitter and Facebook feeds or through the comment boxes below.
Via: DailyMail