BlackBerry slashes Q5 price by 20% to Rs 19,990

Canadian handset maker BlackBerry on Monday slashed the price of Q5 smartphone by 20 per cent to Rs 19,990 to boost sales of devices powered by its latest operating system BB-10.

The device with a QWERTY keypad was earlier priced at Rs 24,990.

Keeping up with the festive spirit, BlackBerry on Monday introduced a New Year Bonanza offer for its popular BlackBerry Q5 smartphone under which customers can purchase BlackBerry Q5 smartphone at Rs 19,990, the smartphone maker said in a statement.

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"The New Year Bonanza aims at providing a powerful mobile device, with cutting edge BlackBerry 10 OS at an affordable price point to the consumers," BlackBerry India Director (Distribution) Sameer Bhatia said.

The offer is in line with BlackBerry's commitment towards the Indian market and will help the brand to reach out to more potential customers, he added.

The Canadian firm has been facing stiff competition from other smartphone makers like Apple and Samsung as sales have declined over the past few months globally.

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Besides, it is betting on apps, including taking its popular messaging service BBM to other operating systems, to rake in additional revenue in the coming months.

BlackBerry, in a filing, had disclosed that mounting inventory had cost the company about $1.6 billion in the third quarter and forced it to cancel the launch of two new devices.

It said the pile up was mainly on account of unsold BlackBerry 10 devices, which was launched in January last year with much fanfare.

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In India, BlackBerry had reduced the price of its Q10 handset by over 13 per cent to Rs 38,990 under a similar offer last month (valid till January 26), while in September it cut the price of its Z10 smartphone by 31 per cent to Rs 29,990.

It also ran an offer for free and discounted apps for its BB10 operating system-run devices -- Q5, Q10, Z10 and Z30 in India.

Though the company does not disclose the number of its users, sources suggest 27-30 per cent of its sales in India is of devices powered by the BB10 platform.

In India, the four BB10-powered devices are priced between Rs 19,990 and Rs 39,990.

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