After the lukewarm response to the high-end Priv, BlackBerry will be launching two mid-range Android smartphones this year.
After launching the Priv, BlackBerry is said to be working on two more Android smartphones. BlackBerry CEO John Chen revealed the plans to launch the two new Android smartphones, but didn’t reveal a timeline. Chen also stressed that India plays an important role in the company’s plans, and it is looking at rebuilding its operations in the country.
In an interview with The National, Chen revealed BlackBerry’s plans to launch two new Android smartphones this year. One of the smartphones will flaunt a touchsreen, while the other will feature a QWERTY keypad. While he hasn’t revealed a timeline, Chen did say that both smartphones will be priced between $300 and $400, which roughly translates to Rs 20,000 and Rs 26,000.
In other words, unlike the Priv, the two upcoming smartphones will be placed in the mid-range. The price tag of Rs 62,990 for the Priv is one of the biggest reasons why the smartphone didn’t work, and even though it is currently listed at Rs 57,000 on e-commerce sites, there is little to no buzz around the smartphone.
Chen acknowledges the problem in the pricing strategy saying, “We released our Android device just about when the high-end phone market went soft,” and this is also the reason the company is now shifting focus to the mid-range segment. This strategy is also one of the reasons why BlackBerry’s Passport didn’t do quite so well either.
In fact, BlackBerry recently announced that it sold only around 600,000 handsets in the first quarter of this year. This is way below analysts’ forecast of 850,000 sales. These numbers also come at a time when the likes of Facebook and WhatsApp have announced that they will stop supporting BlackBerry’s OS. While Chen admits that the BB10 OS is almost dead and no new devices will be launching on this platform, he says that the company will continue rolling out updates for the OS.
As for India, Chen says that the company plays an important role in its plans. In an interview with ET, Chen said that BlackBerry will be investing in India to rebuild its team, hire more people and also broaden its distribution channels.
Source: bgr.in
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