A few days back T-Mobile announced that it will no longer be offering BlackBerry devices in its retail stores. Apart from keeping only one unit in a store for demonstration purposes, T-Mobile will only sell BlackBerry devices online to its customers. The move came amid uncertain times for BlackBerry, which is nearing a $4.7 billion acquisition and possibly losing its manufacturing partner. Sprint chief financial officer Joe Euteneur has said that the carrier will “wait and see” before it makes any decision regarding dropping BB devices from its retail stores.
Verizon, the largest network in the country, doesn’t seem to be following T-Mobile’s strategy as well. Its CEO, Lowell McAdam, said recently that the carrier’s decision about BlackBerry would depend on the wishes of its customers. It warrants mentioning here that the Big Red is one of the first carriers in the U.S. that is expected offer BlackBerry’s new Z30 smartphone. Times have been tough for BlackBerry. It recently announced a nearly $1 billion operating loss for its second fiscal quarter, much of it was accounted for by unsold Z10 inventory. The company’s new BB10 devices were supposed to turn things around, but they haven’t been able to bring back a fraction of the market share this Canadian company once commanded.
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