BlackBerry-Foxconn's new smartphone to be available under Rs 12k

The first smartphone emerging from the new BlackBerry-Foxconn partnership where Foxconn handles hardware design and inventory while BlackBerry provides software and overall supervision will cost under $200, which means it should come to India around the Rs 10,000-12,000 mark. BlackBerry CEO John Chen had all but admitted in a media interview that the device, nicknamed Jakarta and first scheduled for launch in Indonesia, would be an all-touch smartphone, saying that while he would not confirm or deny anything, he knew leaks had let the cat out of the bag. BlackBerry community website BlackBerry Empire revealed that the price tag would be around $200 too. This would be a significant plus for BlackBerry, which has been struggling to gain marketshare at prices that are considered extremely high in developing markets like India, where BlackBerry still was a significant player. And in recent months, even that market share has been lost in the face of pricey BlackBerry 10 smartphones. [caption id=“attachment_1329575” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Can Blackberry claw its way back into the smartphone market? Reuters[/caption] Till a few days ago, the cheapest BlackBerry 10 smartphone in India retailed around Rs 24,000 and was no match in the specs department against Android smartphones at the same price point. The younger demographic, who took to BlackBerry with the Curve 8520 that initially retailed for around Rs 15,000 before coming down to Rs 12,000 a few years ago, just had no option to try BlackBerry 10 even if they wanted to, considering the price tags on existing BlackBerry 10 smartphones. Hence, a new BlackBerry 10 smartphone around the Rs 10,000 price point might help BlackBerry claw some market share in developing markets like India where the brand still is a recognised one. However, Chen has also made clear that while BlackBerry will let Foxconn take a bigger role in emerging markets, the premium BlackBerry smartphones would still be completely designed by BlackBerry. “We will do the next set of cool phones,” is what he told BlackBerry Empire. In an interview with Bloomberg, Chen said that the focus of BlackBerry’s premium smartphones would be on the iconic keyboard-oriented smartphones. The advantage that the Foxconn deal brings is that BlackBerry will no longer have significant inventory issues since Foxconn will handle the risk at the lower end, while BlackBerry on its own will only focus on high-margin premium smartphones and on the enterprise in the software and services space.