BlackBerry Z10 smartphone arrives at Canadian retailers

Electronics retailer

Best Buy Canada is reporting a “hugely successful” launch of the

BlackBerry <>

Z10 in the smartphone’s home-country debut Tuesday.

Best Buy corporate

communications director Christopher Bennett said in-store traffic was

brisk through the day and preorders for the Z10 “went through the roof.”

The company, which operates Best Buy and Future Shop outlets, processed

preorders for tens of thousands of the devices through the online

process, he said.

BlackBerry, based in

Waterloo, Ont., is topping up retailer inventory in case of sellouts,

said Bennett, adding that some customers may have to wait a few days to

get their hands on the 10.6-centimetre (4.2-inch) device. The Best Buy

report corroborates evidence from network carriers in Canada including

Rogers and Bell Canada, which said early orders have topped any previous

BlackBerry model.

Still, the

long-awaited release of the BlackBerry Z10 didn’t draw crowds in

downtown Toronto, though shares in the company rose 6.3 per cent to

close at $15.94.

At The Source in

Toronto’s Eaton Centre, manager Mani Chowdhury said he’d opened early —

at 8:30 a.m. — and put out popcorn in anticipation of a crowd.

But by 10, the store had only sold two devices.

“I was shocked,” Chowdhury said. “A few people want to upgrade their BlackBerry but it’s not like the iPhone was.”

He said he’s still hopeful that sales will build up.

“A lot of people really love BlackBerry.”

Alyssa Page, 27, stopped by on her way to work to buy the BlackBerry Z10 because her previous model just died, she said.

“It looks great,” said Page, who has always used a BlackBerry.

Akilan Thurairasa said

he switched to a BlackBerry rival Samsung Galaxy phone six months but

came in Tuesday morning to buy the new BlackBerry.

“I just want to use

the (BlackBerry), get back to normal,” Thurairasa said. The 28-year-old

added he had heard the hype about the BlackBerry Z10 but was withholding

judgment.

The early Canadian

results follow some reports from the U.K. last week, where the Z10 made

its global debut on Thursday, of lineups of BlackBerry fans at London

retailers.

“We believe Carphone

Warehouse is seeing widespread sellouts, while O2, Vodafone, Orange and

EE are seeing robust demand,” Jefferies & Co. analyst Peter Misek

said in a research note. He cited channel checks showing solid

pre-release demand in markets including the United Arab Emirates, where

the Z10 will launch within weeks.

“We estimate sell-in to be at least several hundred thousand units,” Misek said.

Still, Deutsche Bank

analyst Brian Modoff said his survey of 30 carrier stores in the U.K.

showed all but one had Z10 in stock, adding that carrier promotion was

limited.

BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins told BNN the white Z10 had sold out in the U.K.

The BB Z10, the first

major refresh of BlackBerry smartphones in more than two years, marks a

comeback attempt after the company’s sales fell in western markets on

hard charging competition from Apple and Samsung.

In a preliminary

research report, IDC said BlackBerry had just 4.5 per cent of the

Canadian smartphone market in the final quarter of 2012, versus 47.5 per

cent for Apple and Samsung’s 32.7 per cent. It said BlackBerry had 1.4

per cent of the U.S. market in the quarter.

BlackBerry says it’s launching its next generation platform last in the U.S. market,

probably in mid-March. The physical keyboard Q10 will not debut

anywhere until April and Heins said it will appear in the U.S. in May or

June. Last week, Heins set an April time frame, but said talks with

carriers about release dates continue.

He said the

BlackBerry’s entry into the United States, the company’s biggest

customer base by far, is later because of the extensive testing required

by the U.S. carriers and the regulatory process.

“I’d love to be

earlier. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not happy with it, but at the moment it

is what it is,” said Heins, who in a Toronto speech later in the day

urged Canada to assume global leadership in mobile computing.

Heins added that he’s encouraged by early sales indications showing people migrating from other platforms back to BlackBerry.

Heins also said the

rollout of the new hardware and operating platform in Canada and the

U.K. creates anticipation in the U.S. Fans of the phone’s physical

keyboard will have to wait a little while longer — the new keypad

version of the device won’t launch until sometime in April.

The Z10 is expected to typically sell for $150 on a three-year contract. Koodo is selling it without a contract for $550.

With files from The Canadian Press