London Store Quickly Sells Out of BlackBerry Q10

Is it the feel of the keyboard that all us long time BlackBerry users like? I did hold a BlackBerry Q10 in my hand at the launch in January and I have to admit that the keyboard felt even more comfortable than the one on my old Torch.

Whatever the reason, it seems that the BlackBerry Q10 has become the fastest ever selling consumer electronic device in the U.K. On April 27, 2013 the Q10 went on sale exclusively at the high-end British department store chain Selfridges.

According to BlackBerry, the company had to make hourly deliveries to Selfridges. The smartphone was sold in the store’s Carphone Warehouse concession and the hourly deliveries were made to keep up with customer demand.

Carphone Warehouse is an independent mobile phone retailer. It is based in the U.K. and is part of a joint venture with Best Buy.

What makes this so interesting is that the smartphone is being sold at a rather pricey $1,077. The Q10 went on sale over the weekend and within the first two hours the phones were sold out.

We have seen a less than enthusiastic response to the Z10. So, what is making the Q10 so much more popular that it would sell out in 90 minutes? We do not have any actual sales data yet but one of the reports from Selfridges shows that 2,000 units were sold in those first 90 minutes. It would seem that London is not the only location to see such success due to the fact that the Birmingham and Manchester stores saw similar sales

One of the groups buying the Q10 should make BlackBerry very happy. One of the reports from Selfridges suggests that the main purchasers were corporate representatives who were buying in bulk. An eyewitness claimed that some people were buying around 30 of the Q10s at once. That would mean that it’s a group that has about $28,000 to spend.

Some people are suggesting that these are groups of possible exporters who are buying in bulk so that they can resell the smartphone. I can understand the corporate buyers, a group upgrading makes sense. However, if you do the math, the other group who bought the phones at slightly over $1,000, to make a profit, who would pay that much for a phone?

Selfridges’ head of Home and Leisure said, “The BlackBerry Q10 has been without a doubt, the most highly anticipated smartphone we have ever sold and is already our most successful [one].”

Sir Charles Dunstone, chairman of Carphone Warehoused added, "We have never seen any product sell that amount of volume in such a short space of time – it was incredible. We are expecting the nationwide launch of the BlackBerry Q10 to be huge for both BlackBerry and [us]."

While this is indeed good news for BlackBerry, industry watchers are cautious. They feel that the strong initial activity is not necessarily an indication of how well the British public will take to the device for the long term.