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LAS VEGAS–Sprint Nextel is planning at least one more BlackBerry to join its line up this year.
“We’re not done with BlackBerry,” said Lois Eichelberger Fagan, director of product portfolio for Sprint Nextel, in an interview with CNET on Tuesday here at the CTIA Wireless conference. “There’s more to come.”
Sprint plans to launch the Qwerty keyboard-equipped BlackBerry Q10 late summer. The company opted not to sell the flagship BlackBerry Z10, which was the debut product for BlackBerry 10.
Sprint has teased another product from BlackBerry by the end of the year, but wouldn’t go into details. CEO Thorsten Heins told CNET that he was excited by another flagship phone roughly slated for the holidays. Or, Sprint could offer the BlackBerry Q5, which is slated for overseas budget-conscious users.
Sprint had considered carrying both the Z10 and the Q10, but Fagan said the timing wasn’t right. Initially, the devices were supposed to debut together, but Sprint opted to focus on the Q10 when it became clear there would be a large gap between device launches.
There remains some loyal customers used to the full keyboard who would appreciate the Q10, Fagan said.
Fagan noted that Sprint once boasted the largest base of BlackBerry customers, and was once the largest seller of the Curve BlackBerry. That base, of course, has eroded over time, and is far smaller now.
