BlackBerry says Z10 is best ever launch, but analysts disagree

BlackBerry, the company formerly known as RIM, has announced the BlackBerry Z10 launch has broken all records of its previous launches and is its strongest to date.

Previous reports indicated that several retailers had already sold out of stock of the new Blackberry 10 flagship. Company chief executive, Thorsten Heins, released a statement saying: ‘In the UK, we have seen close to three times our best performance ever for the first week of sales for a BlackBerry smartphone.’

Reportedly, Heins told attendees at a recent post-launch BlackBerry Jam event that the BlackBerry Z10 is selling better than the company’s earlier expectations predicted.

‘The response we have seen exceeded all of our launch partners expectations,' he said, 'Our partners have told us that they have sold out in a number of their key locations.’

A statement from Phones4U confirms that the BlackBerry Z10 ‘has enjoyed an exceptional response’, reporting that over 55 per cent of stores having sold out of stock during the launch weekend.

‘Phones 4u has since replenished stock to cater for the high demand,’ it says.

However, some analysts are now disputing the gravity of the sell-outs, according to a report from BGR.

Mark Sue, an analyst for RBC Capital claimed in a note to investors that several stores reported having low stock levels of the BlackBerry Z10 from the very start.

He says some stores were given between five and ten handsets for ‘walk-in’ sales and 20-30 units for pre-orders.

Sue isn’t the only analyst to make such claims. Canaccord Genuity’s T. Michael Walkley made similar assertions and said that most retail stores had only around 15 units, a number which would easily clear stock in around two or three days.

Pacific Crest’s James Faucette said: ‘The launch of the Z10 has shown more early demand than other high-profile but ultimately severely disappointing launches in the past few years.’

His predictions place the BlackBerry Z10’s sales for the quarter as hitting around 100,000 to 150,000 units for the UK.

Faucette goes on to say that BlackBerry’s UK sales have historically accounted for around 10 per cent of the company’s global output – implying the global demand per quarter is around 1 million to 1.5 million units.

He says that for the BlackBerry Z10 this ‘would be a disappointment’.