BlackBerry, the Canadian smartphone manufacturer whose latest hope to regain its coveted position in the mobile marketplace is its forthcoming BlackBerry Z10, will release the device through AT&T on Friday, March 22.
Though no release date for the BlackBerry Z10 has been announced officially, two sources "familiar" with the company's plan have confirmed that March 22 is the day it will be available in U.S. stores.
"BlackBerry, which gets about one-fifth of revenue from the U.S., is counting on the Z10 to revive its brand's appeal against more popular rivals led by Apple Inc. (AAPL)'s iPhone," Bloomberg Businessweek says.
Businessweek continues that although "by the end of this week" the BlackBerry Z10 will have been released in 21 countries, U.S. consumers will have to wait until March 22 due to longer testing periods for phones by U.S. carriers.
But is this BlackBerry Z10 release date accurate?
"BlackBerry has not announced official launch dates for the BlackBerry Z10 in the U.S. and we are not able to confirm any rumored launch dates on behalf of our carrier partners," AT&T Spokesperson Mark Siegel said in an e-mailed statement relayed by Businessweek.
The release date does make sense, considering Verizon Wireless — the largest mobile phone operator in the U.S. — anticipates the end of March as its release date for the BlackBerry Z10.
T-Mobile says that it will start selling the BlackBerry Z10 in mid-March, with Sprint saying it won't sell the product at all, sticking only to BlackBerry's Q10 (which it will offer later in 2013).
"BlackBerry fell less than 1 percent to $13.19 at 10:14 a.m. in New York," Businessweek reports. "The stock had increased 11 percent this year through yesterday, compared with an 8.3 percent gain for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. AT&T rose less than 1 percent to $36.62."
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