Verizon to Be BlackBerry’s Exclusive Partner for Z30

by Christopher Freeburn | October 29, 2013 9:23 am

[1]U.S. residents who want to buy one of BlackBerry’s (BBRY[2]) newest handsets will finally get a chance thanks to a partnership with the nation’s largest wireless carrier[3].

Verizon Wireless will start offering subscribers the BlackBerry Z30 some time next month. In fact, Verizon will be the exclusive U.S. carrier for the Z30, which will cost $200 with a standard two-year service contract, CNET notes.

That exclusivity may be the result of other carriers simply not having any interest in offering new BlackBerry phones. The handset maker’s plummeting market share and weakening finances have caused many analysts to question its long term viability[4].

A company executive said that BlackBerry would make the Z30 available to any other carriers that wanted to offer it.

BlackBerry put itself up for sale in August and has received at least one $4.7 billion bid[5].

However, the company is reportedly in negotiation with a number of other buyers[6] over the sale of various business units.

Earlier this year, Verizon (VZ[7]) announced that it would acquire Vodafone’s (VOD[8]) share in Verizon Wireless for $130 billion[9].

Shares of BlackBerry rose slightly in Tuesday pre-market trading.

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2013/10/verizon-blackberrys-exclusive-partner-z30/

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