BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY)’s Classic Now in Dubai, UAE

BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) Classic continues its global debut, with the latest smartphone from the Canadian maker now available in Dubai, UAE. The center of attraction at the Dubai Mall starting Christmas Day, the model has attracted more than just curious looks.

Classic Smartphone

In an age where touch-based user interface is cutting-edge, Blackberry’s move to go with the comfort-feel of the good-old QWERTY keypad appears to have been a winner! If market trends thus far are to any indication the demand for keypad based smartphone is better than before!

Blackberry has seen a revival trend with the Classic. According to IDC reports, the company which in late 2011 had 9.6% of the smartphone market had lost much ground by the late 2014, and is nearer 0.5%. The numbers do look lop-sided if you compare with a company it once competed with Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL). The innovator of the smartphone form factor currently holds market share of 13.8% and remains far ahead of Blackberry sales numbers.

Turnaround with Passport

However, the fortunes of Blackberry appear to be on a turnaround trend following strong leadership helming strategies at the highest level.
John Chen has remained the pivot in Blackberry’s role reversal, among other strategic changes within the company and cosmetic changes from the outside.

The first sign of change towards positive growth was the passport model release in mid-September. The design elements of Passport, which differentiating it from other Smartphone’s are the larger screen, bigger battery, and faster browser.

However, with the Classic model there were more definitive changes made, based as Chen calls customer feedback, making the technology which powered user needs.

Chen says the Classic is what Blackberry Bold and Curve users have been aspiring for. The differentiating design and most importantly the physical keyboard thrust the phone into the leader board position in terms of sales.

Blackberry Classic has already entered Singapore markets and its UAE entry means the model is well on its way to deliver great sales numbers for the company on a turnaround!