BlackBerry's sub-Rs 12,000 'Z3' to hit Indian shores next week

NEW DELHI: Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry is preparing to launch its cheapest BB10 OS-powered ‘ Z3’ smartphone in India next week, a person familiar with the matter said.

BlackBerry’s invitations for the launch event, titled “Today’s India smartphone is here” on June 25, indicates that the company would keep the device price low, considering price-sensitive nature of the Indian market.

BlackBerry is likely to price this smartphone around Rs 12,000 to take on the likes of Samsung, Motorola, HTC, Microsoft Devices ( Nokia) and Micromax in the most popular affordable segment. The smartphone was originally launched for the Indonesian market earlier this year for $190 (Rs 11,500).

However, the company spokesperson declined to comment on the model being launched or the price of the device.

BlackBerry has been a laggard in the global smartphone space, including India, as it failed to keep up with the competition and has lost significant market share in the past two years. The company’s BB 10 operating system and devices based on it have not been able to steer sales, due to paucity of applications and overpricing of devices, analysts say.

But the latest launch is an effort to win back some of its lost market share in India where it once led in the smartphone sweepstakes.

The overall Indian smartphone market grew almost three-fold to over 44 million in 2013, buoyed by affordable big screen devices, according to IDC. It is likely that 80.57 million units will be shipped into India by the end of 2014, IDC predicted.

According to market estimates, 70% of the Indian smartphone market is going to be below $200 (Rs 12,000) price point. Seeing huge potential, smartphones vendors are trying to flood the market with rapid device launches.

With BlackBerry Z3 smartphone, the company is trying the capture the budget or affordable device segment in the high growth emerging markets like India and Indonesia. However, the budget or affordable smartphone segment is already flooded with devices from the likes of Motorola, Samsung, Nokia and homebred players like Micromax, Karbonn and Lava.

According to market research firm IDC, 17.59 million smartphones were shipped in India in the first quarter of 2014, as compared to 6.14 million in the same period of 2013. Samsung was the market leader (35% share) in Q1, followed by Micromax (15%), Karbonn (10%), LAVA (6%) and Nokia (4%).

The BlackBerry Z3 is the first phone manufactured by Chinese telecom equipment and handset maker Foxconn for the Canadian company. The smartphone features 1.2 Ghz dual-core processor, 1.5 GB RAM, 8 GB internal memory (expandable upto 32 GB) and 5MP rear camera.

Besides India and Indonesia, BlackBerry would gradually introduce the Z3 in five other countries including the Philippines Vietnam and Malaysia, the company has said previously.