By WILL CONNORS
TORONTO-Research In Motion Ltd. launched a new BlackBerry Aimed at the developing world on Thursday at an event in Dubai as the company seeks to Maintain its popularity in the Middle East amid heavy competition from rival smartphone makers.
Hamad Majed Alabbar from Qatar was the first to buy the new Q5 BlackBerry in Dubai on Wednesday.
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The latest phone, the Q5, was unveiled last month and has been available for preorder in the UK, but the limited-release Dubai launch is the first time customers have been able to take the phone home.
The keyboard-equipped Q5 is a simplified version of the Q10, RIM’s flagship phone keyboard running off its new BlackBerry 10 operating system, and is meant to compete directly in emerging markets with phones from Nokia Corp. and from Asian handset makers that make phones running off Google Corp. ‘s Android operating system.
Pricing was not immediately available, but in the UK preorder sites say it is available free with a two-year contract.
RIM’s share of the U.S. smartphone market has waned from nearly 50% in 2009 to less than 5% this year, According to Gartner research, but it has maintained a strong presence in countries like Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Indonesia.
On Thursday RIM also opened its first BlackBerry-branded retail store in the Middle East, at the Dubai Mall, the world’s largest, According to the company.
Write to Will Connors at william.connors @ wsj.com
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