BlackBerry has begun selling the Z10 and Q10 unlocked from its website.
Last week, the company announced that it had made a loss of $964 million for the second quarter. BlackBerry execs told analysts and shareholders that they would be making aggressive moves to sell more smartphones.
The decision to sell SIM-free, unlocked versions of its phones via its website appears to be the first stage in that promise.
The move follows BlackBerry’s admission that $934 million of its $964 million loss in the second quarter was down to the Z10 failing to sell in the quantities it had anticipated.
In July, it was reported that BlackBerry was cutting production of the Z10 and Q10 due to a lack of demand.
The BlackBerry Z10 will retail for $449 in both white and black. The Q10 will retail for $549 in white and black. The company has said that it will only be offering the phones SIM-free and unlocked in the US for the time being.
On Friday, the company revealed that it had sold around 5.9 million BlackBerry smartphones to end users during the quarter. However, the vast majority of those devices were older BlackBerry 7 devices.
To add further insult to injury, by comparison Apple sold nine million iPhones in the first weekend after its latest models were launched.
“We are very disappointed with our operational and financial results this quarter and have announced a series of major changes to address the competitive hardware environment and our cost structure,” BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins said in a statement.
However, BlackBerry is not in trouble just yet. Heins stressed that the company has “$2.6bn in cash and no debt”.
“We are focused on our targeted markets, and are committed to completing our transition quickly in order to establish a more focused and efficient company,” he concluded.
Courtesy: T3
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