Analysts watch as pre-orders begin for Blackberry Q10
BlackBerry’s long-awaited Q10 smartphone, the first BlackBerry 10 device to incorporate the company’s renowned tactile keyboard, will be available for Canadians to purchase at the end of the month.
The BlackBerry Q10 was first announced alongside the Waterloo, Ont.-based manufacturer’s Z10 touch screen device in January, and is regarded as the crucial second chapter in BlackBerry’s most recent comeback effort.
BlackBerry revealed in its fourth-quarter 2013 earnings report that it had shipped more than one million units of its Z10 smartphone. It debuted in the U.K. on Jan. 31, followed by a Canadian release on Feb. 5. Nearly two months later, AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless began selling the Z10 in the U.S. at the end of March.
However, some analysts believe that BlackBerry diehards may be holding out for the physical keyboard on the Q10.
“It’s iconic for them, that’s for sure,” said IDC Canada’s senior mobility analyst Krista Napier. “I think at least here in Canada, there are a niche group of people who have been using the keyboard for a long time.”
Meanwhile, RBC Capital Markets financial analyst Mark Sue said last month in a note that it’s possible BlackBerry diehards might skip the Z10 launch entirely, opting instead to wait for the Q10.
A BlackBerry spokesperson said that the Q10 would be available in Canada in the “coming weeks” and that “details on availability in other markets will follow soon.”
Telus and Rogers customers can pre-order the device starting Tuesday for $199 on a three-year contract.
The announcement puts Canadian customers on equal footing with those in the U.K., where the Q10 also will be sold on carriers O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Three, EE and TalkMobile from the end of April.
A message on Telus’s website said that devices will begin shipping on April 29. According to the Canadian mobile news website MobileSyrup, an internal Rogers document has pegged the Q10’s retail launch for April 30. Telus customers can also buy the Q10, which will be available in black, outright without a contract for $700. Rogers, meanwhile, is exclusively offering the Q10 in white — as well as black — and selling the phone outright for a slightly lower price of $650.
Electronics retailers Future Shop and Best Buy announced they would be selling to Bell, Rogers, Telus and Virgin Mobile subscribers in the “coming weeks.” Customers were able to pre-order starting Monday in-store.
“The keyboard still continues to be one of the defining reasons why people like their BlackBerry,” said BGC Financial analyst Colin Gillis. “I’m particularly interested to see if they can generate more interest for the Z10 than the Q10 — if they can break out of that physical keyboard label and start becoming a producer of slabs of glass … that have traction in the marketplace.”