 "BlackBerry to launch an 'exciting' flagship later in the year, says CEO Heins")
Many BlackBerry fans have felt let down by the high price of the BlackBerry Z10 in India, especially when the Z10’s specs are compared to other 2013 Android flagships or even some of those released last year, namely the iPhone 5 and the Galaxy S3. However, there is some good news for fans of the beleaguered Canadian smartphone pioneer.
BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins has claimed that the company has exciting new things planned for its fans and smartphone lovers in general. The best part of Heins’s statement is that he says these new BB10 handsets will be released this year.
The company that gave us the first smartphone nearly a decade ago has spent the last few years sliding into irrelevancy as rivals like Apple and Samsung release newer feature-filled handsets. The recently introduced Blackberry Z10 has helped restore some of the market share, with BlackBerry saying that it has managed to lure many iOS and Android users back to the BB10 platform.
Thorsten Heins is excited about new BlackBerry phones
In an interview with CNET, the BlackBerry CEO revealed, “There’s one new product I’m really excited about, but I can’t really share it.” When asked what will make the new handset the one to look forward to, Heins’s reply was somewhat vague “It takes BlackBerry 10 to another level in terms of the user experience,” he said.
Heins also revealed that there would be three or four other BlackBerry 10 devices in the market before the end of the year. These include the BlackBerry Q10, the company’s first QWERTY keyboard-toting BlackBerry 10 device, another mid-tier phone, and that other device, which has got Heins excited.
Heins said he expects the Q10 to hit markets in the next month or so, with the timing largely dependent on carrier approval wherever it is applicable. He added that the company was being cautious and did not want to over-commit on the launch timing or delivery of the Q10. While we are eagerly waiting to see how these new phones perform in the market as well as in our hands, Heins said the company is ready to move into segments that it had not filled yet.
BlackBerry hopes to expand its portfolio with two handsets in each of the three tiers of the smartphone market. So we can expect QWERTY and touch-screen BlackBerry phones in the low-end, mid-range and top-end segment – a strategy Heins said is a “one-two punch.”
“We’re building that portfolio,” he added. “We need to get into that depth and into those tiers.”
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