As BlackBerry (BBRY) continues to roll out its next-generation platform around the world, users in Japan hoping to get their hands on a new BlackBerry 10 smartphone are in for some disappointment. Nikkei on Thursday reported that BlackBerry plans to pull out of the Japanese smartphone market because it cannot justify the cost of supporting the Japanese language on its phones. BlackBerry later confirmed the report, saying that Japan is not a major market for the vendor and it currently has no plans to launch any BlackBerry 10 devices there.
A BlackBerry spokesperson reached out to BGR and provided us with the following statement.
“BlackBerry enjoys a constructive relationship with trusted partner, NTT DOCOMO, and we will continue to support the carrier’s ongoing BlackBerry sales in Japan. We have not announced plans to launch BlackBerry 10 in Japan, but this does not affect our key priorities in the market: to continue to provide BlackBerry service and robust support to BlackBerry’s Japanese customers, both consumers and business users.”
