Amid all the cheery optimism we heard from BlackBerry during the Thorsten Reins regime, the fact remains that BlackBerry is a very troubled company, with its newer devices not generating anywhere near the same interest as older ones did before the rise of the iPhone. Speaking of the iPhone, or Apple, to be more specific, it would now appear that details are now available for BlackBerry’s first collaboration with Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn, a phone known internally as the Jakarta but expected to be released as the Z3.
Late in 2013, BlackBerry announced a development and manufacturing tie-up with Taiwanese company Foxconn, with both companies agreeing to develop a consumer-oriented smartphone for Southeast Asian markets such as Indonesia, where BlackBerry remains relevant in the marketplace. This came following what was largely a disappointing sales performance for the BlackBerry Z10 and Q10, despite a solid start for both BlackBerry 10-powered phones. As for BlackBerry and Foxconn’s new Z3, the phone will have an all-touch setup not unlike that of the Z10, but with lower-end specs such as a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, 1.5 GB RAM, 8 GB internal memory, a 960 x 540 display, and a 5-megapixel rear camera. The device is expected to be launched at the coming week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, with pricing to be set at around $150 without contract obligations.
Meanwhile, BlackBerry CEO John Chen recently expressed his displeasure with T-Mobile’s ongoing “Uncarrier” marketing and rebranding campaign, wherein the U.S. carrier openly and aggressively encourages subscribers of other carriers to switch to T-Mobile and, in this case, switch from BlackBerry to the iPhone, a device T-Mobile has only recently started offering. The offending deal is said to be a “great deal for BlackBerry customers,” and involves T-Mobile offering the iPhone 5s free of charge, with a plan where buyers can repay the device over the next 24 months.
“What puzzles me more is that T-Mobile did not speak with us before or after they launched this clearly inappropriate and ill-conceived marketing promotion,” said Chen in a statement that criticized T-Mobile’s controversial new promo. Chen’s complaints came following similar ones from BlackBerry device owners, and prompted T-Mobile’s flamboyant CEO John Legere to clarify things via Twitter. “We give our customers choices, but you don’t have to give up your #loyalty,” he tweeted. “We will continue to support.”
On Chen’s part, he believes that his reaction combined with those of loyal BlackBerry customers was successful in making T-Mobile acknowledge that it had unintentionally hurt some feelings with its iPhone 5s deal. “By expressing your outrage directly to T-Mobile through tweets, calls and comments in the media and on blog posts, you sent a powerful message that T-Mobile could not ignore,” said the executives.