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Cape Town - BlackBerry is making a comeback of sorts despite losing revenue from declining mobile market share.
The Canadian-based company is seeing some sales success with its newly launched Passport which garnered around 200 000 pre-orders.
"Customer demand drove the BlackBerry Passport to the number one selling unlocked phone on Amazon.com within hours of launch, which our partner told us is unprecedented," BlackBerry Social Media Marketing lead Donny Halliwell wrote on the BlackBerry blog.
The company has been under pressure as the mobile market moved from BlackBerry to iPhones and then to Android powered devices.
However, despite upheavals that included a change in leadership, CEO John Chen moved manufacturing to Chinese company Foxconn in China, while shifting its focus on software and the development of its enterprise business.
Security
The company also has a programme of courting developers to write applications for its platform.
One strategy that BlackBerry has used is to drop the price - even of its flagship devices.
The Z3 launched well below the flagship price of around $1 000 of competing devices.
In SA, BlackBerry launched the Z3 at a recommended retail price of R2 999 or R249 per month on a Vodacom Smart S contract, and Z10 smartphones continue to see healthy sales.
In fact, an informal survey revealed that a number of BlackBerry Z10s were being sold to cash buyers who are particularly sensitive to price.
"Not a day goes by without at least one person asking about a Z10", was a typical response from a mobile salesperson in Cape Town.
When asked how the sales were doing with higher priced devices, the answer was emphatic: "Those don't sell: People don't want to spend that kind of money."
Fin24 users have also written to indicate their admiration for the BlackBerry brand.
"I have to say I am a diehard BlackBerry fan. I currently use the Z30 and it is a brilliant phone. Too many people have written BlackBerry off due to the old operating system, but BB10 is awesome," said Ian Osmond.
The fallout from US spying has also been a boost to BlackBerry as world leaders abandoned their smartphones in favour of the devices.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has joined a list of growing world leaders who are using BlackBerry devices. US President Barack Obama is well known for using a bespoke BlackBerry smartphone.
Most recently, the UK's David Cameron also indicated that he used a BlackBerry device.
Apple and Google have responded to the security threat with both firms announcing encryption technologies recently.
The Canadian-based company is seeing some sales success with its newly launched Passport which garnered around 200 000 pre-orders.
"Customer demand drove the BlackBerry Passport to the number one selling unlocked phone on Amazon.com within hours of launch, which our partner told us is unprecedented," BlackBerry Social Media Marketing lead Donny Halliwell wrote on the BlackBerry blog.
The company has been under pressure as the mobile market moved from BlackBerry to iPhones and then to Android powered devices.
However, despite upheavals that included a change in leadership, CEO John Chen moved manufacturing to Chinese company Foxconn in China, while shifting its focus on software and the development of its enterprise business.
Security
The company also has a programme of courting developers to write applications for its platform.
One strategy that BlackBerry has used is to drop the price - even of its flagship devices.
The Z3 launched well below the flagship price of around $1 000 of competing devices.
In SA, BlackBerry launched the Z3 at a recommended retail price of R2 999 or R249 per month on a Vodacom Smart S contract, and Z10 smartphones continue to see healthy sales.
In fact, an informal survey revealed that a number of BlackBerry Z10s were being sold to cash buyers who are particularly sensitive to price.
"Not a day goes by without at least one person asking about a Z10", was a typical response from a mobile salesperson in Cape Town.
When asked how the sales were doing with higher priced devices, the answer was emphatic: "Those don't sell: People don't want to spend that kind of money."
Fin24 users have also written to indicate their admiration for the BlackBerry brand.
"I have to say I am a diehard BlackBerry fan. I currently use the Z30 and it is a brilliant phone. Too many people have written BlackBerry off due to the old operating system, but BB10 is awesome," said Ian Osmond.
The fallout from US spying has also been a boost to BlackBerry as world leaders abandoned their smartphones in favour of the devices.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has joined a list of growing world leaders who are using BlackBerry devices. US President Barack Obama is well known for using a bespoke BlackBerry smartphone.
Most recently, the UK's David Cameron also indicated that he used a BlackBerry device.
Apple and Google have responded to the security threat with both firms announcing encryption technologies recently.
Check out this News24 Live review of the BlackBerry Z3:
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