BlackBerry slashes Q5 price by 20%

NEW DELHI, JAN 06- Canadian handset maker BlackBerry today 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 today 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.

“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.

BlackBerry, in a filing, had disclosed that mounting inventory had cost the company about USD 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.