Blackberry 10 U.S. launch gets lukewarm reception
Retailers report a ‘good level’ of interest, but no ‘Apple-esque’ lineups
After starting the session in positive territory, shares in mobile device maker BlackBerry tumbled late Friday on signs of a subdued U.S. debut for the company’s new Z10 smartphone.
Thorsten Heins, chief executive of Wa- terloo, Ont.-based BlackBerry, launched the touch-screen handset Thursday night at a concert event in New York’s Times Square featuring musical performers such as ?uestlove of The Roots and Ludacris among a star-studded lineup.
But by midday Friday, two area Best Buy stores reported no lineups and no sellouts.
Asked if there was a buzz around the Z10, Donald Wilcox, manager of Best Buy Mobile on Seventh Ave. in Times Square, replied “not so much,” although analysts cautioned against reading too much into the first few hours of full commercial release.
He said the store had five Z10 handsets in stock, and none had sold.
Best Buy declined to detail sales numbers across the U.S. and would not disclose pre-order totals.
“What did people expect?” asked Ramon Llamas, mobile phones research manager for Framingham, Mass.-based IDC. “If it was Appleesque lineups, well, that’s not going to happen.”
He said winning over American buyers will be a “slow and steady” process. Llamas noted that unique aspects of the device, which replaces the traditional home button with a gesture function to toggle between the Web, tiled apps and a unified messaging hub, takes some getting used to.
He said BlackBerry’s marketing push in the U.S. includes work to educate sales staff and consumers on the new BB10 operating platform, and to encourage carriers and retailers to give the device more prominent shelf space and stronger promotional support.
A spokesman for AT&T, the first U.S. wireless carrier to offer the Z10, said he could not comment on sales results, which could be detailed in BlackBerry’s June earnings call.
Debi Lewis, a spokeswoman for leading U.S. carrier Verizon Wireless, which is taking preorders before a full launch next week, said she could not provide data for competitive reasons, but said “we’re very comfortable with what we’re seeing.”
Best Buy spokeswoman Shandra Tollefson in an email said, “Based on early reports there has been a good level of interest in the Z10.”
BlackBerry is rolling out the Z10 in the U.S. several weeks after the software and handset launched in Canada, the U.K. and another nearly 20 other markets around the world.
BlackBerry’s physical keyboard Q10 handset won’t appear stateside in stores until later in the spring, while the company says it plans to expand its device lineup later in the year to include a mid-priced version. The Z10 with a contract retails in the U.S. at a price similar to the iPhone.
The U.S. launch timing has been pushed back due to an especially thorough device testing process applied by American wireless carriers, the company has said. BlackBerry is looking to the U.S., its single biggest market, to revive sales that have slumped amid mounting competition from Apple, Samsung, HTC and a host of other smartphone makers. Once a dominant force in the U.S., BlackBerry has seen it market share decline sharply after a lengthy delay in releasing its new platform. In a research note, Detwiler Fenton & Co. analyst Jeff Johnston said the delay, while competitors stepped up release schedules, created an out-of-sight, out-of-mind phenomenon in the U.S. BlackBerry shares fell $1.25 (U.S.) on the Nasdaq in New York to close at $14.91.