By: iPadfanzz staff on February 8, 2013
Troubled smartphone maker BlackBerry says the global rollout of its BlackBerry 10 smartphone will not be extended to Japan.
The Canada-based company, which is hoping its long-delayed BlackBerry 10 (Q10, Z10) series will turn around flagging global fortunes, will not sell the handsets in the country, the Nikkei business daily said.
The Nikkei business daily said the reason behind not launch the smartphone in Japan is because of the high cost involved in the development of a Japanese-language version of the new operating system.
The Z10 went on sale in Canada earlier this week via several of the company's wireless network operator partners, including Bell, Rogers and Telus. The smartphone comes with 4.2-inch touch display and packs in 1280 x 720 pixels, a dual-core 1.5-GHz processor, 8-megapixel camera, as well as Bluetooth, GPS, Wi-Fi and NFC. It runs the new BlackBerry 10 operating system.
BlackBerry had said the Q10 should be available in the US by March and around the world by April.
Both Z10 and Q10 are part of RIM's attempt at a comeback after the handset maker lost a major share to the growing breed of Apple’s iPhone and Android hansets
Even as the BlackBerry has fallen behind rivals in recent years, favourable reviews for the new system may work for the company. Overall, there’s a lot riding on the success of the Z10 -- the first BlackBerry to run on the company's next-generation platform.
The bigger test will lie in its longer-term sales and whether non-BlackBerry fans will consider the smartphone.
