BlackBerry Z10 launched in Indonesia

BlackBerry on Friday launched its new Z10 smartphone in Indonesia, the company's third-largest market as it rapidly loses ground elsewhere to rivals such as Apple and Samsung.

A-model-holds-the-newly-launched-Blackberry-Z10-at-a-shopping-mall-in-Jakarta-Photo-AFP-Bay-Ismoyo

BlackBerry on Friday launched its new Z10 smartphone in Indonesia, the company's third-largest market as it rapidly loses ground elsewhere to rivals such as Apple and Samsung.

Dozens of buyers queued outside the upmarket Central Park shopping centre in the capital Jakarta from 07:00 am to snap up the new device, launched in Britain and Canada earlier this year and set for a launch in the US next week.

The Z10 is seen as critical to Canada-based BlackBerry as it seeks to revive its sagging fortunes and regain lost market share from Apple and other smartphone makers such as Samsung.

In fourth place is Nasza Klasa is a Polish social networking service aimed at students and alumni that currently has an estimated 13.5 million users.

In fourth place is Nasza Klasa is a Polish social networking service aimed at students and alumni that currently has an estimated 13.5 million users.

Blackberry still has 'many loyalists (in the country) who will still run at the first sight of the (Z10)', Sudev Bangah, the head of IDC's Indonesia operations, told AFP.

Hengki Marzuki, 36, who tried to sneak into the Central Park shopping centre before it opened, walked out by mid-morning with a gleaming Z10, his second BlackBerry device for which he shelled out seven million rupiah ($722).

'He's been waiting to buy this phone since January and he sold his Samsung Android phone to buy this,' Marzuki's wife, Dega Fitri, told AFP.

The launch comes as Samsung unveiled a slim, feature-rich Galaxy S4 on Thursday. The South Korean consumer electronics giant said the device would roll out in 155 countries in late April.