BlackBerry unveils Z30 in India at Rs 39,990

In a fresh bid to check its falling market share, smartphone maker BlackBerry on Thursday unveiled premium flagship offering Z30 featuring its latest operating system 10.2 version in India priced at Rs 39,990.

Introducing the high-end Z30 smartphone, eyeing the festive season demand rush, BlackBerry said the device -- which was originally priced at Rs 44,990 -- will be available in retail stores across the country early next week.

The firm is also offering 12-month EMI options for purchasing its latest premium segment offering.

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The 5-inch device with Super AMOLED display and a 1.7 GHz processor with quad-core graphics comes with stereo speakers as well as its latest technology, BlackBerry Natural Sound, which promises a unique audio experience. This is biggest phone from the BlackBerry stable so far.

The touchphone has a 2 GB RAM and has an internal memory of 16 GB, which can be expanded to to 64 GB. It has an 8 MP rear camera and a 2 MP front facing camera.

BlackBerry has also increased the battery to 2,880 mAh capacity, which the firm claims will last up to 25 hours.

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"BlackBerry Z30 is the ultimate smartphone for the urban youth and consumers who are looking for a bigger screen size, long-lasting battery and a best in class productivity experience," BlackBerry India Managing Director Sunil Lalwani said.

Besides, the the latest 10 OS 10.2 version will add more refinement to communication. The BBM script now supports 'Hinglish' as a text, which is the first-of-its-kind feature in the domestic market, he added.

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Analysts feel that this festival season the Z30 will face strong competition from other flagship smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 & Galaxy S4, Apple iPhone 5s, 5c, LG G2 and Sony Xperia Z1.

Once a dominant player in the handset market, BlackBerry has lost market share to rivals like Apple (iPhone), Google's Android-powered devices and now Nokia's Lumia range, which are powered with Microsoft's Windows phone OS.

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The company about ten months back had launched its first touch phone Z10, which failed to live up to expectations.

According to research firm IDC, globally Windows Phone shipments have been surpassing BlackBerry for the first two quarters in 2013 calendar year.

Similarly, Gartner said among worldwide device shipments by operating system (OS), BlackBerry sold 35.58 million units in 2012. The firm predicts that its global shipments will decline to 23.10 million units in 2013 and 19.3 million units in 2014.