Sprint to Partner BlackBerry
Canadian handset manufacturer, BlackBerry Limited (BBRY) plans to launch its new 4G LTE-based BlackBerry Q10 smartphone on Sprint Corporation’s (S) network. Priced at $199.99, the smartphone is expected to hit the Sprint stores on Aug 30, 2013 with a two-year contract.
BlackBerry Q10 is based on BB10 platform and offers both QWERTY and touch screen support. It also features an 8 MP rear camera supporting HD video recordings and a 2 MP front camera. The device is also equipped with a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor and a 16 GB expandable memory.
Sprint will offer two of its popular plans with BlackBerry Q10. Both My Way and My All-in plan offer unlimited voice, data and text service priced at $80 and $110 per month, respectively. However, My All-in plan offers an additional benefit of 5GB of Wi-Fi data access free.
BlackBerry Q10 is already available on AT&T Inc. (T), Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile US Inc.’s (TMUS) network. So, Sprint will be the last out of the top four wireless operators in the U.S. to launch the popular BlackBerry Q10 device.
BlackBerry reported dismal first-quarter 2014 financial results with both the top and the bottom lines missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The company sold nearly 6.8 million BlackBerry smartphones and 100,000 BlackBerry Playbook tablets as compared with 7.8 million BlackBerry devices and 260,000 tablets in the prior-year quarter. However, the company sold only 2.7 million BB10-based smartphones in the reported quarter.
Hence, we believe that the launch of BlackBerry Q10 through Sprint will not only drive its device sales but will also boost revenues, moving ahead.
Currently, BlackBerry carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
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