Will Z30 smartphone at Rs 39,990 revive BlackBerry market in India?

While discussions of BlackBerry buyout are doing rounds, the smartphone vendor launched its latest smartphone — BlackBerry Z30 – in India for Rs 39,990.

The smartphone is competitively priced compared with the earlier high-end versions on the BlackBerry 10 platform. BlackBerry’s new pricing strategy is expected to give the smartphone vendor a better hold in the market and improve its competitive position among rivals like Nokia, Samsung and Apple.

In fact, mobile bloggers did not expect BlackBerry Z30 — on the latest BlackBerry 10.2 OS platform — with several amazing features to be priced at Rs 39,990.

During a press meet in Delhi, BlackBerry India MD Sunil Lalvani clarified that the Z30 pricing is not part of festival pricing. This means, BlackBerry has learnt from the Z10 debacle. Currently, BlackBerry is facing a tough task of selling Z10 – which was announced globally in January 2-13 – across the globe. Lalvani says the demand for Z10, the first device on BlackBerry 10, received good feedback in India.

Sunil Lalvani, MD, BlackBerry India

However, Indian smartphone market share says a different story. Currently BlackBerry does not fall in the top 5 category of smartphone vendors in India. It does not feature in top 5 because BlackBerry does not have a low end phone on the BlackBerry 10 platform. “Work is on to introduce budget phones on the new OS,” said Lalvani.

Read: Samsung, Micromax, Karbonn, Sony, Nokia in top smartphone market share in Q2

BlackBerry Z30 features BlackBerry 10 OS version 10.2 powered by innovative features like BlackBerry Priority Hub, personalized keyboard options, BBM video with natural sound and more.

BlackBerry Priority Hub enables users to manage all conversations and notifications. It collects priority messages across your email, social networking and other accounts and gives instant access to the conversations most important to you.

Version 10.2 of BlackBerry 10 OS is now available in any app and message previews everywhere. With the new OS, you can get a preview of any message as it arrives in whatever app you’re using, and immediately dismiss it or tap it to read the full content and respond.

“The new BlackBerry Z30 smartphone offers a unique and engaging user experience with features like the powerful BlackBerry Hub, its exceptional touchscreen keyboard and industry leading browser,” said Lalvani.
“BlackBerry Z30 is the ultimate smartphone for the urban youth and consumers who are looking for a bigger screen size, long-lasting battery performance and a best in class productivity experience on the go.”

Highlight of BlackBerry Z30 is the 2880 mAh battery – the largest battery ever built into a BlackBerry smartphone. Combined with the battery enhancements in BlackBerry 10 OS version 10.2, customers can get up to 25 hours of battery life in mixed use conditions, BlackBerry said.

The 5-inch Super AMOLED Display in the new all-touch smartphone gives clear and more vivid picture of the objects. Powered by 1.7 GHz processor with quadcore graphics, BlackBerry Z30 smartphone enables faster web browsing and delivers better gaming experience.

The smartphone also come equipped with stereo speakers that features the BlackBerry Natural Sound technology that is part of BlackBerry 10 OS version 10.2. This feature makes BBM Voice and BBM Video chats sound more natural and realistic.

With its new generation BlackBerry Paratek Antenna technology, BlackBerry Z30 enables better connectivity even in low-signal area. BlackBerry Paratek Antenna can give you faster data transfers and fewer dropped calls in low signal areas, keeping you connected in more places, the company said.

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