"BlackBerry launches Rs 1,39,990 ‘Porsche’ phone"

Press handout of the Porsche

BlackBerry’s parent Canadian company RIM, which has been fast losing its grip on the market of late to more agile players like Samsung and Apple, launched the BlackBerry Porsche, or P’9981 developed in association with Porsche Design in India on Wednesday.

The phone comes with a forged stainless steel frame, hand-wrapped leather back cover, sculpted QWERTY keyboard, and a crystal clear touch display. It will cost a cool Rs 1.3 Lakh.

It also has an exclusive PIN that easily identifies the user as holder of the phone.

In terms of specifications, the P’9981 features a 1.2 GHz processor, liquid graphics technology, HD video recording, 24-bit high resolution graphics, advanced sensors, and built-in support for NFC (near field communications) apart from 8 GB of on-board memory, which is expandable to up to 40 GB with a microSD card.

RIM India managing director Sunil Dutt told PTI that the phone is about power, style and aspiration.

“We will not be selling this through the traditional channels. The discerning customers can order their phones to begin with and later on, we will have select outlets like luxe watch and accessories showroom located on the high streets,” Dutt said, hours before the domestic launch.

“The domestic smartphone market is growing at over 40 per cent this year, after clipping at 87 per cent in 2011. I am sure that we will be able to grow much faster than the industry rate,” Dutt said.

“The Porsche Design P’9981 smartphone from BlackBerry is a perfect culmination of style and functionality with exceptional look and feel,” said Dutt.

And despite the troubles its parent company is facing in the global markets, the company said it would top industry growth this year in India.

BlackBerry enjoys 15 per cent of the smartphone market share in the country as of March 2012, up from 13 per cent the previous year, which places it in third slot after Nokia and Samsung, according to CyberMedia Research data.

On the rationale behind such a costly phone at a time when the overall sentiment is down, Dutt, who joined RIM India last December from Samsung Telecom, said the market can still afford luxury products.