BlackBerry loyalists waiting eagerly for Q10’s physical keyBoard

Pent-up demand for Black

Berry Ltd.’ s new Q10 smartphone prompted RBC Capital Markets to raise its near-term sales forecasts. Analyst Mark Sue thinks the device, operating on BlackBerry’s new BB10 operating system and offering the email-friendly QWERTY keyboard, could spark an enterprise upgrade cycle. “With reviewers uniformly praising the Q10’s physical keyboard, fast browser and modern user interface, the Q10 is likely to appeal to the numerous existing enterprise and message-centric BlackBerry users,” Mr. Sue said in a note to clients. “Many of these users have skipped over the Z10 to wait for the Q10.” The analyst’s new forecast calls for 2.75 million BB10 shipments in the May quarter, up from two million previously, while his estimate of 10.7 million for calendar 2013 remains unchanged. Mr. Sue said checks show positive sales trends as BlackBerry loyalists eagerly await the first major upgrade with a physical keyboard. He highlighted the crowds at the Q10’s exclusive U.K. launch this past weekend at high-end retailer Selfridges. “Strong initial sell-through of the Q10 at Selfridges may bode well for launches in the U.K. and Canada, two diehard BlackBerry markets,” the analyst said. The Q10 is launching early May in Canada and late May in the U.S. RBC noted that regulated organizations such as banks and governments have delayed rolling out BB10 until the new BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES10) is out, which is also expected in May. Mr. Sue also pointed out BlackBerry is expanding distribution of the touchscreen Z10, which could reach more than 70 countries in the next couple of quarters, up from about 10 at the end of fiscal 2013. He expects BlackBerry will launch a five-inch device as well as QWERTY entry device for emerging markets later this year.

Jonathan Ratner