A modern BlackBerry with a physical keyboard might not arrive in the
U.S. until May or June, a month or two behind other parts of the world,
the chief executive of the smartphone maker suggested in an interview.
Although
Research in Motion Ltd. CEO Thorsten Heins said the exact release date
will depend on each wireless provider, he said the physical keyboard
version, the BlackBerry Q10, will likely come out eight to 10 weeks
after a carrier releases a model with only a touch screen, the
BlackBerry Z10. The Z10 is expected in the U.S. in mid-March, so eight
to 10 weeks brings the U.S. date for the Q10 to mid-May to early June.
"We're trying to get it as close as we can," Heins said in an interview this week with The Associated Press.
Both
models are part of RIM's attempt at a comeback after the pioneering
brand lost its cachet not long after Apple's 2007 release of the iPhone,
which reset expectations for what a smartphone should do.
RIM
promised a new system called BlackBerry 10 to catch up, using technology
it got through its 2010 purchase of QNX Software Systems. But it has
taken more than two years to unveil new phones that are redesigned for
the new multimedia, Internet browsing and apps experience that customers
are now demanding.
RIM said last week that the Q10 should be
available through some carriers around the world in April, but it
wouldn't say at the time whether any were in the U.S.
In the
interview, Heins said it was up to the carriers to do the necessary
testing and to decide whether they could shorten the process. He said
eight to 10 weeks after the Z10 launch was "a good range" of what to
expect.
Such a delay would further complicate RIM's efforts to
hang on to customers tempted by Apple's trend-setting iPhone and a range
of devices running Google's Android operating system. Even as the
BlackBerry has fallen behind rivals in recent years, many BlackBerry
users have stayed loyal so far specifically because they prefer a
physical keyboard over the touch screen found on the iPhone and most
Android devices. But the temptations to switch grow with each additional
delay, despite favorable reviews for the new system.
Heins told
the AP that he's disappointed the touch-only BlackBerry won't be
released in the United States until mid-March, but he said the U.S. and
its phone carriers have a rigid testing system.
"We need to
respect that. Am I a bit disappointed? Yeah, I would be lying saying no.
But it is what it is, and we're working with all our carrier partners
to speed it up as much as we can," Heins said in Monday's interview at
the Ritz Carlton in Toronto, ahead of Tuesday's debut of the touch-only
model in Canada, RIM's home.
RIM unveiled new BlackBerrys last
week after excruciating delays allowed Apple Inc., Samsung Electronics
Co. and others to build commanding leads in the industry. The stock fell
12 percent last Wednesday after the kickoff event. There's concern the
phone isn't coming out sooner than the March date for the U.S. announced
last week.
Black and white versions of the touch-screen Z10 were
released in the U.K. last Thursday. Heins said early data suggest that a
substantial number of U.K. users are moving from other systems to
BlackBerry, even though RIM initially targeted longtime BlackBerry
users.
"It's beyond expectations," Heins said in the interview.
"White is sold out already. The black is hard to stock up again. It's
very encouraging. I won't share the number because I need to verify it,
but we are getting a substantial number of users moving from other
platforms to BlackBerry."
In Canada, telecom provider Bell said
advance orders for the Z10 exceeded that of any previous BlackBerry
model. "We're seeing intense interest today," Bell spokesman Mark
Langton said Tuesday. "Sales are quite robust."
RIM's stock
increased nearly 7 percent to close Tuesday at $16.02 after gaining 15
percent Monday following initial reports of strong U.K. sales and an
upgrade of the stock by an analyst.
Heins said the company would
have to regain market share in the U.S. for BlackBerry to be successful.
The U.S. has been one market in which RIM has been particularly
hurting, even as the company is doing well in many places overseas.
According to research firm IDC, shipments of BlackBerry phones plummeted
from 46 percent of the U.S. market in 2008 to 2 percent in 2012. The
iPhone and Android now dominate.
Heins, who one year ago replaced
longtime executives who had presided over BlackBerry's fall, said he's
confident BlackBerry can become a third choice behind the iPhone and
Android.
"We need to win back market share to be relevant," Heins said. "We have to be aggressive in the U.S. market."
To
send a message that the BlackBerry is back, RIM ran an ad during
Sunday's Super Bowl game in the U.S. suggesting that there's so much the
new phones could do, it'd be easier to list the outlandish things that
they can't. The Canadian company is also in the process of changing its
name to BlackBerry to emphasize that brand.
Some analysts have
questioned RIM's decision to release a touch-only version first
considering that its most loyal users love the physical keyboard for
typing.
Heins said the full touch screen was more complicated, so
the company needed to focus on releasing that first. He has also
acknowledged that RIM failed to quickly adapt to the emerging "bring
your own device" trend, in which employees bring their personal
touch-screen iPhones or Android devices to work instead of relying on
BlackBerrys issued by their employers
Heins said the company wants to participate in that trend by releasing a touch version first.
Heins
also addressed possible interest other companies might have in RIM
should BlackBerry 10 prove successful and whether the Canadian
government might block a foreign takeover.
"The recognition for
BlackBerry 10 and what we built is pretty high. We got good reviews," he
said. "That moves you into the middle of the radar screen so I expect
some activity around it but we'll look at it one by one. We'll assess it
and we'll make decisions with the board on what make sense."
Heins
recently chatted with top Canadian government officials, including the
industry minister, at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
"These
guys are reasonable, rational people. At the end of the day, it's about
employment. It's about economic health. It's about Canada playing a
major role," Heins said. "If the right logic and rational applies, I
don't think they will just block it for their own sake. They could have
done it with Nortel and the patents."
Several months ago, RIM's
decline evoked memories of Nortel, a former Canadian tech giant, which
declared bankruptcy in 2009 and was picked over for its patents. For
RIM, the lengthy delays releasing the new BlackBerry system helped wipe
out more than $70 billion in shareholder wealth and 5,000 jobs.
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