Back at MWC 2014 in February BlackBerry announced the first smartphone that it has built in collaboration with Foxconn. The BlackBerry Z3, codenamed Jakarta, was exclusively launched in Indonesia first. Reports from the country indicate that the smartphone is off to a good start there. The company hasn’t closed the door on the possibility of it being launched elsewhere, even as an LTE enabled smartphone in the U.S., its possible that the folks in Canada might be preparing for a BlackBerry Z3 launch in Malaysia and India.
The company has had significant presence in both markets in the past. Even though its market penetration there isn’t as high as it used to BlackBerry devices are still preferred by a large number of customers. Moreover since the BlackBerry Z3 is a $200 smartphone it would make sense to expand its footprint in crucial emerging markets where this price point is almost exclusively catered by Android devices.
A report coming in from Malaysia claims that the BlackBerry Z3 has been added to the country’s SIRIM database listed under Brightstar Distribution, which is the company that distributes BlackBerry devices in Malaysia. A safety guide for the Z3 has appeared on BlackBerry’s web site in India, hinting at the possibility of a launch.
BlackBerry hasn’t officially confirmed the expansion as yet so Z3-fans in Malaysia and India might have to wait a bit to get their hands on it.
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