Reference Auto

BlackBerry, which has been losing its market share to brands like Samsung and Nokia, has rolled out a so-called budget handset, the Z3, for Rs 15,990 but it really isn’t a cheap handset, considering Samsung, Nokia and LG have come out with cheaper sets with high-end features but can the Z3 handset bring the company back into the limelight again? 

Research in Motion or RIM has rolled out an affordable BlackBerry of the BB10 series, the Q5, in the country for Rs 24,990 and the styling along with looks of the new phone clearly indicate that RIM is banking on the urban, upwardly mobile youth for ramping up sales of the new handset.

The Q5 has a 3.1-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 720X720 pixels. It is available in Black, Pure White and Pure Red colours. The USP of the new Q5 handset is its touchscreen feature along with the classic Qwerty keypad.

The Q5 smartphone is propelled by a dual-core 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor and 2 GB RAM. 

It comes with an 8 GB internal storage, which can be expanded by up to 32 GB with the help of a microSD card.

The BlackBerry Q5 smartphone is offered with the BlackBerry 10.1 software. The new Q5 smartphone is expected to be available in shops throughout the country from the third week of July.

The phone has a 5-megapixel rear camera and 2-megapixel front shooter. The smartphone also comes with a 2,180 mAh battery, which is a pretty powerful one.

The Q5 is the cheapest of the BB10 series phones launched by the Canadian firm till date, and comes almost for a steal compared to the Z10 and the Q10, which are both priced around Rs 40,000.

“The Q5 comes cheap for the urban youth. It will be available soon at all key BlackBerry outlets in the country and the roll out will be completed by July 20 across India,” said Sunil Lalvani, managing director of BlackBerry for Indian operations, while launching the handset.

The new product, which is a part of the BlackBerry 10 smartphone series, is a data-intensive mobile computing platform. It is a smartphone, which comes with Qwerty keyboard and touchscreen, targeted at the Net savvy city youths.

The Q5 comes just at half the price of the Q10 and is very similar to the latter with the same software. The Q10 feels somewhat heavy with its metal body, but the Q5 (with a plastic body) is lighter but sturdy though and can be more comfortably held compared to the Q10.

BlackBerry burnt the midnight lamp to make the Q5 unique. The keypads are well spaced out (which makes it look rather clumsy compared to the Q10 though) and the design of the Q5 somewhat resembles the Curve series phones.

So, with a dual Querty keypad and high-end smartphone features, the BlackBerry Q5 has been very smartly priced and is mainly targeted at the youth rather that the corporate executive or the entrepreneur.

With Apple’s iPhones and Google’s Android handsets ruling the roost in the mobile phones’ market, BlackBerry seems to have finally woken up with the launch of the BlackBerry 10 series handsets – that is, the Z10 and Q10 – which must be smartly priced in order to compete with peers.

The Z10 as well as the Q10 are likely to be priced in the range of $500.

BlackBerry, which is using a new operating system to drive sales of its new handsets, could be in for a shock (at least initially) as it will require its customers to get used to the new operating system.

The new operating system has been dubbed ‘Peek and Flow’, which allows users to view their social media messages, emails, appointments, tweets and updates in one inbox, called the BlackBerry Hub, with just the swipe of a thumb.

BlackBerry initially projected itself as the high-flier corporate executive’s handset but later it shed its image and has also started targeting the youth and college goers.

The Q10 (as it is quite obvious) is a Qwerty phone with the typical BlackBerry keyboard. This has been probably done to target existing customers and also give them add-ons such as full-fledged music and movie services.

The Q10 and Z10 have been devised in a manner to provide enhanced Web browsers so that BlackBerry users can this time surf internet in a seamless manner, unlike the previous BlackBerry devices.

The BlackBerry Z10 paves the way for business users to separate their professional and personal profiles with the help of Balance.

This feature, along with music and video hubs and over 70,000 applications, will see the Z10 being lapped up in markets (if the price is not too steep), especially the developed ones, and cause a worry to Samsung Galaxy S III and Apple’s iPhones.

The BlackBerry Z10 has features such as 4.2-inch (diagonal) display along with a resolution of 1,280X768 pixels, touchscreen keyboard, 16 GB memory, which is expandable via a microSD card of up to 32 GB, has 8 MP camera on the back, a 2 MP camera in front and video recording is high-definition for rear camera (comparable to the resolution of a 40-inch flat TV).

It has a lower resolution in the front (720p).

Among other features, battery life is nearly 10 hours on 3G and the Z10 has 60 hours of audio playback along with 11 hours of video playback. The operating system is the new BlackBerry 10, which will pave way for seamless use of applications.

The BlackBerry Q10 has 3.1-inch (diagonal) display with a resolution of 720X720 pixels, has touchscreen as well as physical keyboards (the physical keyboard is of both Qwerty and Azerty types) and memory capacity is 16 GB, which can be expanded to 64 GB.

The cameras are the same as the Z10, that is, 8 MP and 2 MP (front), while video resolution is very high and is similar to the Z10.

Operating system is also the BlackBerry 10 but battery life is still unknown.

The BlackBerry Z10 and Q10 have been launched at a time when companies like Samsung and homegrown Micromax along with Nokia are launching new products and although the former’s phones are rich in features, the game will be played on the price front, where BlackBerry doesn’t usually budge.

Now, BlackBerry is planning a big push into the mass market with an affordable new smartphone Curve 9220 priced at Rs 10,990 but the price seems a tad steep compared with the features offered.

BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion (RIM) is offering the upgraded BlackBerry 7.1 operating system in its new 9220 handset.

At Rs 10,000, RIM’s BlackBerry Curve 9220 isn’t 3G compatible. That’s a big letdown as almost all handsets (like those of Samsung and Nokia) priced over Rs 10,000 are 3G-compliant. 

Also, with people talking about 4G, a 2G handset could hit a sales bump.

The 9220 comes with a 2 MP camera, which is another reason for aspiring cellphone owners to shun it. Memory is expandable up to 32 GB and the 9220 comes with GPRS, which are standard.

The BlackBerry Curve 9220 smartphone will, however, offer the BlackBerry messaging and social networking features. The new model is believed to offer the longest lasting battery life in a BlackBerry Curve model.

It will allow users seven hours of talk time or 28 hours of music playback or FM radio listening on headphones. Now, that’s a plus. In India, BlackBerry Curve 9220 customers can download a litany of apps from BlackBerry App World worth Rs 2,500 for free.

So, what prompted BlackBerry to offer smartphone Curve 9220 for Rs 10,000? The Curve 8520, one of RIM’s best-selling models, is priced at Rs 8,900, the cheapest from RIM’s stable.

Only cheap phones can help BlackBerry get a big push in the burgeoning Indian middle-class market. That’s a lesson RIM has probably learnt.

RIM, which remained obstinate with its marketing strategy, hasn’t yet penetrated into the Indian market in a big way. Now, there are just over one million BlackBerry users in India.

But if RIM offers smartphones, which are affordable as well as feature-rich, it could make headway as a BlackBerry is a status symbol in India today. 

So, if someone could elevate his status with a cheap BlackBerry, why not?

The Curve 9220 has been targeted at the youth, according to a company official. “The new BlackBerry Curve 9220 comes with a unique mobile experience that youngsters in India will love, thanks to its affordable pricing and unmatched messaging and social connectivity features,” RIM managing director Sunil Dutt had said.

Globally, RIM’s market share in smartphones is slowly eroding and is hovering around the 10-15 per cent-mark (it had fallen to 11 per cent recently). However, India is among the few markets where it has been holding on to its share lately.

The eroding base also saw profits dwindle for RIM, which logged a net loss of $125 million for the quarter till March. Last year, it had registered a net income of $934 million in the same period.

BlackBerry is also embroiled in a security issue over its handsets with the Central government. This had taken a toll on its sales. BlackBerry must find a way to hold on to its share in India.

For it to do so, RIM will have to come up with feature-rich smartphones (much more than what the Curve 9220 has) and price these handsets at par with its competitors for sales to surge as it already has one big advantage in India: the BlackBerry brandname.