AllThingsD are reporting that channel checks conducted by Jefferies & Co. have revealed that the new devices has 'solid' pre-orders in both Canada and the United Arab Emirates! This is a good start, which will provide a good base for the US launch which is later in March, later this year.
This isn't the real story though, instead the supposed response from UK consumers for the device has been very positive indeed! Jefferies analyst, Peter Misek, was quoted as saying that some UK stores had had lines outside of them and that the white version of the Z10 will be hard to get hold of because it has proven very popular for Phones4U. The black one has supposedly done alright for itself too, but it is more widely available! He said:“We believe Carphone Warehouse is seeing widespread sell-outs, while O2, Vodafone, Orange and EE are seeing robust demand... We estimate sell-in to be at least several hundred thousand units.”Several hundred thousand units would be hugely encouraging news for Blackberry. It's widely acknowledged that the handset maker is popular on this side of the pond, but nonetheless that would be a very good result if it is proven accurate!
In the meantime Blackberry will be focusing their attention on launching the new device in a couple more markets. IDC's senior analyst, Melissa Chau, said that:
"It's clear that not only are India and Indonesia among the largest markets but in terms of future smartphone growth, they're amongst the ones with the most potential... But the two devices that have been launched are not well aligned to the needs of these two markets."The real judge of the devices success will be the US launch in March. Jefferies' Misek added that:
“To put [these early Z10 numbers] in perspective, the iPhone had first weekend sales of 5 million plus in the U.S.... The U.S. is five times larger [than Britain] so continued strong sales could bode very well for Blackberry.”While we wait for the official US launch some cheeky Brits have been buying some Z10's and shipping them across to the US. A pair of "very rare" white Z10's sold for $3000 the other day and a device listed in New York was offered up for $1,775! Most Z10's are currently selling to US buyers for around about $1,100 so there's going to be a fair amount of money made from these cross Atlantic deals!
If you're after a Z10 then they are available at most phone stores in Britain right now and you'll be able to get one in Canada on February 5, but again you'll have to wait until March if you're in the USA!
Via NDTVGadgets (1) (2) and AllThingsD.
