After Nokia, the BlackBerry brand is attempting to cash in on the booming Indian smartphone market with its partner Optiemus Infracom unveiling the latest device -- BlackBerry KEYone.
Optiemus also plans to launch a slew of BlackBerry- branded devices across price points.
Earlier this year, BlackBerry had tied up with Optiemus Infracom to design, manufacture and distribute its devices in India and neighbouring countries. It has a similar partnership with TCL for some other markets.
"We have a strong pipeline (of devices) for the next 6-12 months. These will be across price points," Optiemus Infracom Executive Director Hardip Singh told PTI.
Optiemus is working closely with BlackBerry to add features that are relevant to the Indian market, he said.
"India is a very important market for us. The brand still has a strong connect. With the lineup that is planned, I hope to see India among our top 5 markets," BlackBerry Senior Vice President, General Manager, Mobility Solutions, Alex Thurber said.
Talking about the device, Singh said: "The BlackBerry KEYone, for example, is the first dual SIM BlackBerry phone in the Indian market. Also, the pricing is almost at par with the international model, even though the India version has higher specifications."
Compared to the international model that has 3GB RAM and 32GB onboard memory, the Indian version manufactured by Optiemus has 4GB RAM and 64GB internal memory, he said.
The handset will be available on Amazon.in from August 8.
Once a dominant player in the smartphone category, BlackBerry struggled to compete against global competitors like Samsung and Apple. It, then, agreed to license its brand to handset manufacturer, TCL.
Earlier this year, Nokia brand also made a re-entry into the Indian market with HMD Global (which holds the rights for Nokia brand) launching a range of feature and smartphones.
The company has taken a number of steps, including adopting the Android platform for powering its phones in attempts to re-capture its position.
India is one of the fastest growing smartphone markets globally. While Samsung continues to dominate the market, Chinese players like Lenovo, Xiaomi and vivo have aggressively eaten into the market share of domestic players like Micromax and Lava.
Singh said smartphones are more than just phone call making devices now.
"People are now transacting over their phones. So security is a critical element, which BlackBerry has been known for. Also, now there is the convenience of Android OS on BlackBerry, so we are very optimistic about the devices," he said.
As per data from telecom operators, there are still one million active BlackBerry service users in India, he said.
The company hope to garner "double-digit market share of the premium market (phones priced over Rs 20,000) in the next 12 months, he said. PTI SR
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