BlackBerry launches BB 9720

New handset, which will be available from the weekend, builds on the success of the BlackBerry 7 OS

In a bid to regain its market share in India, Canadian handset-maker BlackBerry on Thursday launched a new smartphone — the BlackBerry 9720 — which will retail at Rs 15,990.

The new handset, which will be available from the weekend, builds on the success of the BlackBerry 7 operating system (OS), Advait Vaidya, BlackBerry India product management head, said.

From being among the top three smartphone players in India some time ago, BlackBerry's market share has now tanked even below that of Apple, a later entrant, and the smaller Indian companies which sell cheap Chinese-made handsets.      

In terms of revenue, too, BlackBerry, which was among the top three, has slipped to the seventh spot in the country, according to CyberMedia Research. In FY12, BlackBerry ranked below not just Samsung, Nokia and Micromax, but also Apple and HTC, in terms of revenue. Accor-ding to the report, BlackBerry had 3.1 per cent market share — down from over 15 per cent in the previous years — of the Rs 31,330-crore handset market in the country.

Running the new OS 7.1, the device features a QWERTY keyboard, 2.8-inch touch screen and trackpad for navigation, a 5 megapixel camera, FM radio and a new feature — BBM Voice — which lets users chat over Wi-Fi for free.

Asked why BlackBerry is launching an OS7 powered device when it already has handsets powered by an advanced operating system, Vaidya said the company wants to offer devices across platforms and price points.“We have a huge QWERTY-installed base and people want handsets across price points,” he said.

Earlier this year, BlackBerry had launched its BB10 operating system and unveiled three devices — the Z10, the Q10 and the Q5.