"I’m glad to have inventory issues,” Chen told an MIT Enterprise Forum event in Hong Kong yesterday. He added: “It shows that people want the phone. We took a very conservative approach and didn’t order too many.”
While BlackBerry is keeping current Passport sales under wraps, the company reckons that it managed to shift 200,000 units in its first two days on sale – which is impressive considering the firm has been largely inactive as a smartphone maker for a while now. Chen also commented on the current state of the smartphone market, which is flooded by products that are focused on entertainment rather than business-oriented like BlackBerry.
“That is not a space that we can afford to be in now,” adding that: “Being sexy and being a workhorse are two different things.” The 1:1 aspect ratio Passport could be a surprise hit with its refreshing 4.5-inch display, 1440 x 1440 pixel resolution and physical QWERTY keyboard to tip it all off.
With the help of the Passport, the Canadian firm aims to return back to profitability in 2016 highlighting China as a priority market.
“China is too big a market to ignore,” Chen said. “It is clear that BlackBerry needs to and should be in that market.”
