BlackBerry Q10 demand gobsmacks U.K retailer Selfridges

It’s a small first step, and there are no hard numbers, but the optics are nonetheless good for BlackBerry.

The BlackBerry Q10 now has the honor of being the fastest ever selling consumer electronics product at century-old U.K high-end department store Selfridges.

Selfridges had negotiated the right to sell the Q10 exclusively before a wider release hits the U.K. this week, and demand for the new BlackBerry with a physical keyboard took them by surprise.

“We have never seen any product sell that amount of volume in such a short space of time – it was incredible” said Sir Charles Dunstone, chairman and co-founder of Carphone Warehouse. Dunstone added: “The exclusive launch of the BlackBerry Q10 at our store within Selfridges over the weekend was an amazing success”.

Carphone Warehouse, which runs a concession store at Selfridges said it sold out its initial stock within two hours and then made hourly deliveries to meet demand.

Julian Slim, head of home and leisure at Selfridges, commented on the weekend rush.

“The BlackBerry Q10 has been, without a doubt, the most highly anticipated smartphone we have ever sold and is already our most successful. Our partnership has proven to be a powerful combination of great technology and commercial success”.

The release of the BlackBerry Q10 has lagged behind the virtual keyboard Z10 by several months. In Canada, the Z10 was released on February 5th. Many Canadian retailers, including Telus, Fido and Rogers will begin shipping the device this week. In the U.S., BlackBerry recently announced that BlackBerry (NASDAQ:BBRY) confirmed that all four Tier 1 U.S. carriers will carry the Q10, with Sprint and T-Mobile taking pre-orders.

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