BlackBerry says it has seen strong initial demand and interest from South African consumers in the BlackBerry Z10, which it widely launched in the country on 1 March.<\/p>\n
In January, Canada based Research In Motion, took the decision to operate under the name of its handsets, BlackBerry.<\/b><\/p>\n
The group told BusinessTech that while it doesn\u2019t break down sales figures per region, it has been a leading smartphone vendor in South Africa for 28 months, \u201cand the BlackBerry Z10 is already one of the top 5 selling smartphones in South Africa\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have seen strong initial demand and interest from South African consumers in the BlackBerry Z10. We believe that BlackBerry 10 delivers on consumers\u2019 needs for a new unique mobile experience,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
The group also punted its enterprise offering. \u201cWe currently have 50 enterprise customers fully up and running with BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 in South Africa and based on current proof of concepts (POC\u2019s) and trials in process we will have more than 150 customers on BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 by mid-year.\u201d<\/p>\n
These include Alexander Forbes, Bowman Gilfillan, Dimension Data, Edcon, Netcare, Tiger Brands, First National Bank, Investec,\u00a0 Absa, Bowman Gilfillan, AEL, PWC, Aveng Grinaker, Edcon, Omnia.<\/p>\n
Shares in BlackBerry however, have declined since the group kicked off its three day BlackBerryLive annual conference in Orlando, Florida, on Tuesday (14 May). And this despite announcing new products including a lower-cost Q5 smartphone.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, shares in BlackBerry declined 3.91% to $15.25 on the Nasdaq, and then a further 1.64% on Wednesday. However, the group is up 26.37% so far this year, following general interest in its BlackBerry10 range, but doubt still remains due to the company\u2019s limited product offering.<\/p>\n
Gartner recently reported that smartphones accounted for 49.3% of sales of mobile phones globally, up from 44% in the fourth quarter of 2012.<\/p>\n
BlackBerry announces mid-tier Q5<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n BlackBerry shareholder case dismissed<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n BlackBerry subscriber numbers decline<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n