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RIM chief outlines pricing strategy for BlackBerry 10 range

Smartphone maker's CMO claims at least six BB10 models will drop this year.

10 Jan 2013

Research in Motion (RIM) is planning to follow up the launch of its highly-anticipated BlackBerry 10 later this month with a series of smartphones at different price points.

The smartphone maker's chief marketing officer, Frank Boulben, made the admission during an interview with tech news site Fierce Wireless at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

He revealed the firm is planning to launch at least six new BB10 devices this year aimed at different market segments, with the first two smartphones in the range set to be unveiled on 30 January.

"We intend over time as we transition the portfolio to have a full range of devices," he said.

Boulben said users of the devices, which are currently being tested by 150 carriers across the globe, will have access to around 70,000 apps from launch.

The new devices will be the first smartphones to feature RIM's new QNX mobile operating system, and will also boast features, such as BlackBerry Balance, which allows users to separate business and leisure apps.

The firm already has a BlackBerry subscriber base of 79 million and good relationships with its carriers, he added, which should bolster adoption of the devices.

"They [carriers] very much believe that we can be the third platform," he added.

The BB10 is being viewed by many in the tech industry as a make-or-break device for RIM, which has seen its market share eroded in recent years by rival smartphone makers Apple and Samsung.

At a BB10 preview event back in September, RIM CEO Thorsten Heins said the next ten years of the company will be shaped by the success of the new device.

"We are making believers...out of those that have previously written BlackBerry off," said Heins at the time.

"We are listening. We are laser-focused. We're excited about our future and we are fighting."