JAKARTA, Indonesia — The smartphone maker BlackBerry on Tuesday unveiled a new model exclusively for Indonesia, but has hopes of expanding sales to other emerging markets in Asia and South America.
John S. Chen, executive chairman and chief executive of BlackBerry, acknowledged that the global smartphone market would be closely watching sales of the model, the BlackBerry Z3, in the coming weeks. The flashy unveiling Tuesday was at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Jakarta, and featured hip-hop dancers performing on a laser-lit stage, with female ushers wearing aqua-blue cocktail dresses and black high heels.
Mr. Chen denied that the low-cost touch-screen model, designed especially for Indonesia, one of its largest markets globally, was a last-ditch effort to remain relevant in the smartphone industry. Rather, he said that one of the biggest parts of his job, which he took on in November, was to make the BlackBerry brand cool again.
“BlackBerry has new technology and is financially stable,” he said at a news conference after the unveiling. “I think that’s got to be the first step — to explain that.”
“When people have no concerns about BlackBerry the company,” he added, “then the product will be cool again.”
BlackBerry produced the Z3 in partnership with Foxconn Technology Group of Taiwan. The phone will retail for 2.2 million rupiah, or about $190. The words “Jakarta Edition” will be engraved on the backs of a limited 25,000 units.
“If this device allows them to grow again, even if it’s just small, steady growth, that’s a success in itself,” said Ryan Lai, a market analyst at the consulting firm IDC, Reuters reported. “That says there is still room for BlackBerry in Indonesia.”
“Indonesia is a huge market for us,” Mr. Chen said. “I hope that the more important statement is that we are in the handset business.”
BlackBerry has plans to sell the Z3 in six other Asian markets, including India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, and is hoping for unit sales “in the millions” across the region.
Mr. Chen said that the partnership with Foxconn, which manufactures the Z3, had given BlackBerry the ability to compete in emerging markets, and that, if sales went well, “it could be a sign of things to come.”
For its part, Foxconn is considering investing at least $1 billion in Indonesia to build manufacturing plants that would produce smartphones and other electronic devices.
The Z3 Jakarta Edition will go on sale in the capital on Thursday through authorized sellers, and as with many opening days of new phone models, lines are expected to be long.
The model has several special applications for Indonesian users, including local banking and travel services, and, in the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, a directory of halal food. The Z3 not only operates in the Indonesian national language, but also in many regional dialects, including Javanese.