The five-inch, all-touch Z30 - BlackBerry's latest smartphone built on the company's re-engineered BlackBerry 10 platform - has reached Cell C stores.
Available from Cell C franchise stores and service providers from today, the Z30 is being offered on a Straight Up 100 contract with BlackBerry 10 Lite for R399; Straight Up 200 with BlackBerry 10 Essential for R499; Straight Up 400 with BlackBerry 10 Premium for R669; or Straight Up 800 with BlackBerry 10 Premium for R899 (per month over 24 months). Customers can also add any data bundle to their package of choice for a 15c out-of-bundle rate.
This comes a week after Vodacom announced it would offer the five-inch smartphone at a recommended retail price of R8 799, or R399 per month on its 24-month Smart S plan.
The phablet-like phone, positioned by the Canadian smartphone maker as its most advanced, fastest device to date, runs on BlackBerry's latest 10.2 OS and features the largest battery ever on a BlackBerry smartphone. It is the company's fourth device in the range, after the all-touch Z10, hybrid touch and qwerty Q10 and mid-range hybrid Q5.
Another four devices are on the cards for release next year, including two high-end devices and two mid-range devices. BlackBerry says the 2014 smartphones will include all-touch and qwerty models.
Still appealing
Meanwhile, although BlackBerry has been the subject of some concern over the past year, the company has reassured South African consumers its local market is not only still strong - but is of paramount importance and will continue to see significant investment by BlackBerry.
Local loyalty to the BlackBerry brand was lent credence this morning, with the release of World Wide Worx's annual Mobility project, which includes extensive research into local mobile trends.
Research into smartphone use in SA, with fieldwork conducted by Dashboard Marketing Intelligence, reveals BlackBerry's market share increased 18% to 23% over the past 18 months. Leading smartphone brand Samsung remained at 19% market share over the same period.
World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck says BlackBerry's local success is thanks to its continued aspirational appeal in the younger market.
Dashboard CEO Peter Searll says the fact that BlackBerry has overtaken Samsung in market share goes to show that SA still sees value in BlackBerry. "[According to the study] BlackBerry is also a big winner in terms of current versus future brand usage."
BlackBerry's brand momentum is up 1.3 points, with future usage (those who are looking to use BlackBerry in the coming year) at 29% - an increase of 6%. Samsung's future usage is down to 17%, putting its brand momentum in the red by 0.9 points.
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