BlackBerry Z10

BlackBerry announced on Tuesday that its flagship BlackBerry 10 smartphone, the Z10, will be updated to the latest version of its next-generation operating system. The announcement came during the vendor’s BlackBerry Live conference, and BlackBerry 10.1 availability for the Z10 will be determined by carriers that offer the phone. Key features listed by Blackberry are as follows: More →

As BlackBerry begins rolling out its second BlackBerry 10 smartphone, the struggling vendor will at least have some good momentum to build on coming out of April. According to market watcher Net Applications, BlackBerry gained usage share in April after losing share in each of the two prior months. While BlackBerry only accounts for a minuscule portion of global mobile usage — 1.51% in April, less than Symbian’s 1.73% — it’s at least moving in the right direction, up from the low of 1.39% it hit in February. IOS shed about 1.5 points in April to fall to a still-dominant 59.04% according to Net Applications, while Android smartphones and tablets gained more than a point to climb to 26.02%.

While we’ve heard encouraging reports on BlackBerry Z10 sales from other countries, here in the United States the picture looks decidedly gloomier. With one major wireless carrier providing next to no marketing push, sales of BlackBerry’s (BBRY) flagship phone in the U.S. have apparently gotten off to a very slow start and are showing few signs of picking up anytime soon. Per The Wall Street Journal, two analysts on Thursday added to reports of slow early U.S. sales and painted a very dire picture of BlackBerry’s future prospects in the American smartphone market. More →

BlackBerry (BBRY) had a very short time to enjoy the spotlight this winter before the Galaxy S 4 tap danced onto the scene and now it seems that the company’s momentum has slowed in the wake of Samsung’s launch extravaganza earlier this month. Barron’s points us to a new research note from Citigroup analyst Jim Suva, who says that BlackBerry Z10 sales have “dramatically slowed” after an initial “honeymoon” and that carriers “have already shifted promotions to other products (Samsung) and moved the Z10 to less favorable in store locations.” More →

If the BlackBerry (BBRY) Z10 succeeds in the United States, it won’t be because of anything AT&T (T) has done to help. Per StreetInsider, Goldman Sachs on Monday released a new note that described a “disappointing” launch for BlackBerry’s flagship smartphone in the United States and said that there was a “surprising lack of marketing support and poor positioning of the product” in several retail outlets, including AT&T stores, Best Buy (BBY) and Radio Shack. Goldman’s note backs up another report we heard last week about AT&T stores in New York and San Francisco that didn’t feature any displays or marketing materials for the Z10 on its launch day. This reported lack of marketing support and slow launch weekend have led the previously bullish Goldman to cut its price target for BlackBerry shares to $17 while downgrading them from Buy to Neutral.