BlackBerry have said that the first day sales of its new Z10 model have beaten the previous best sales record for a BlackBerry device by 'three times' in the UK, showing there is a healthy interest in the new device and the new BB10 OS.
Another market where the Z10 has gone on sale already, Canada, saw a 50% increase in sales compared to the previous best BlackBerry release, and similar sales stats are hoped for when the Z10 launches in the U.S. in March.
The news came via BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins, and saw a rally in BlackBerry stock in the US market, where shares in BlackBerry have climbed 150% since September last year.
BlackBerry have supported the launch of their new flagship phone, the first to market running the BB10 OS, with a huge marketing campaign online, in print and on TV. This has helped raise awareness amongst consumers and customers are responding positively. Analysts say that currently the BlackBerry Z10 is 'in the discussion' with the Apple iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S3, the long time dominant handsets in the smartphone market.
Some stores across the UK have seen their allocation of the Z10 sell out, a situation that hasn't occurred since BlackBerry launched their first touchscreen smartphone, the BlackBerry Storm, exclusively on Vodafone in 2008.
There is a lot riding on the Z10, as future devices will be viewed based on its success or failure, rightly or wrongly. So far, it seems that the immediate outlook is positive, but the real test will come in whether BlackBerry can persuade non-BlackBerry fans to consider moving to BB10 from iOS or Android.
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