BlackBerry Heads Back To South Korea With The Priv

It has been more than three years since BlackBerry decided that it was no longer feasible to sell its smartphones in South Korea. The company released several handsets during that period but none of them were officially released in the company. That changes today. BlackBerry has now returned to South Korea after three years and this time it’s not hawking a phone that runs its own operating system. It’s selling the BlackBerry Priv which is the first Android-powered handset BlackBerry ever made.

BlackBerry conducted a launch event earlier today in Seoul to mark its return to South Korea. It’s looking to capture share in the mid-range smartphone market of the country, something that other manufacturers like Huawei and Sony are also trying to do.

Whether or not the company is going to see any considerable improvement in sales after returning to South Korea remains to be seen. It will certainly be hoping that an Android smartphone gives it a new platform to launch its efforts in this market which currently remembers it for outdated BlackBerry OS-powered devices.

It’s likely that additional BlackBerry handsets might make their way to South Korea given that the Priv is already a year old. The DTEK50 is BlackBerry’s new mid-range Android handset and it may only be a matter of time before it’s available as well. The BlackBerry Priv has been assigned a retail price of 598,000 won or $530 in South Korea.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: BlackBerry, blackberry priv