BlackBerry has certainly done a good job of capturing the world’s attention with their new Z10 and Q10 smartphones, with the handsets already rolling out in the UK and Europe. U.S. customers, however, have been stuck twiddling their thumbs in anticipation of a stateside release. We’ve already heard that the Z10 will most likely be released in the U.S. in mid-March, but it seems that customers who want to get their hands on the QWERTY keyboard touting Q10 will have to wait a little bit longer. How long? Well…the Q10 could be delayed up to ten weeks after the release of the Z10, meaning we won’t see the Q10 until June. And that’s still conjecture.
So, what’s the holdup? BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins told the Associated Press that carrier testing is what’s holding back the release of the Z10 and Q10, and Heins is optimistic in his outlook of the success of a U.S. rollout of those devices. Commenting on the UK release, Heins told the AP “[Sales are] beyond expectations,” but declined to give exact numbers.
“We need to respect that. Am I a bit disappointed? Yeah, I would be lying saying no. But it is what it is, and we’re working with all our carrier partners to speed it up as much as we can,” said Heins.
Yeah, we’re bummed too, Mr. Heins, but not as bummed as BlackBerry could be if they don’t get their handsets released in the U.S. before the arrival of other rumored devices such as the HTC M7 and the Samsung Galaxy S IV.
[Via: Venturebeat]