Research In Motion Ltd (RIM), the maker of BlackBerry smartphones, unveiled a new model that operates globally, vying with Apple’s Inc’s latest iPhone.
The Tour 9630 will be sold in the US through Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp, RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie said on Monday.
The Tour will be released this summer at a price of US$199.99 after rebates with a two-year contract, Sprint said in a statement.
“When you bring in these enhanced new devices, they really get a strong uptake,” Balsillie said. “We’re certainly hoping that we get the same uptake now.”
RIM could sell 400,000 to 600,000 Tours through the end of August, Mark McKechnie, an analyst at Broadpoint Amtech Inc in San Francisco, wrote in a note on Monday. He expects Verizon to start receiving the phones from RIM in the middle of next month.
“We expect solid margins at launch for the Tour,” said McKechnie, who recommends buying the stock.
The phone could add US$0.05 to earnings and add US$175 million to sales in the quarter that ends in August, he said.
RIM is working on a new model of the touch-screen Storm with a pullout keyboard to rival Palm Inc’s Pre, analysts said.
Balsillie declined to comment on when the device may come out.
While the Tour doesn’t offer a touch screen, it has a full Qwerty keyboard that the Storm lacks, Balsillie said, adding that it’s also smaller and slimmer than the BlackBerry Bold.
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