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RIM releases new phones in Taiwan
Staff Writer, with CNA
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| Models display the new BlackBerry Bold 9900 and Torch 9860 smartphones at a joint product launch by BlackBerry maker Research in Motion and service provider Taiwan Mobile in Taipei yesterday. |
Canada’s Research In Motion Ltd (RIM) yesterday launched two new BlackBerry smartphones in Taiwan.
The Bold 9900 and the Torch 9860, running on RIM’s latest BlackBerry 7 OS, go on sale today through the country’s No. 2 carrier, Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大), which has sold BlackBerry phones since 2006.
The 10.5mm thick Bold 9900 is powered by a fast 1.2GHz processor and RIM’s QWERTY keyboard, while the Torch 9860 is the company’s first touch-only phone with a 3.7-inch touchscreen, the biggest in the BlackBerry line.
TAIWANESE TASTES
“We found that Taiwanese consumers need more than just a QWERTY keyboard model. They prefer phones with the full-touch function,” Romax Chu (朱燊達), RIM director of Hong Kong and Taiwan operations, said at the product launch.
Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM’s share price has fallen more than 60 percent from its February peak, as its earnings and outlook missed expectations and its PlayBook tablet failed to dent the iPad’s dominance of the tablet market.
WORK IN PROGRESS
Chu said the PlayBook would not go on sale in Taiwan until the company adds more localized and Chinese-language applications, which could take some time.
“Since we launched the PlayBook in Hong Kong in May, we have seen many tablet PCs from rivals launched in Taiwan, leading to significant changes in the competition environment,” Chu said. “It’s not enough to just launch a Chinese-language version of the product.”
Source: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2011/10/12/2003515499
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