Blackberry Q10 a Total Failure

Sales of the keyboard-equipped Blackberry Q10 have been dismal, according to carrier executives and retailers in the U.S. and Canada.

Chris Jourdan, who owns and operates 16 Wireless Zone stores in the Midwestern U.S. that sell Verizon Wireless products, said customers didn't show up for the Q10 as expected. His stores only ordered a few of the devices per location and "the handful that sold were returned."

"We saw virtually no demand for the Q10 and eventually returned most to our equipment vendor," he said.

In another indication the new BlackBerry devices aren't selling well, used phone dealers aren't reporting the flood of old BlackBerrys that typically comes when updated devices are released. Jeff Trachsel, chief marketing officer at NextWorth, which buys used electronics, said both the all touch-screen Z10 and Q10 launches were "nonevents" from a trade-in perspective.

BlackBerry, which dominated the smartphone market for much of the past decade, fell behind as touch-screen devices like the iPhone grew in popularity. About three years ago, the company launched an all-out effort to catch up. It focused on two devices—one all-touch screen, the other with a keyboard—that featured new designs and would be powered by new operating software. Earlier in the year, BlackBerry said it planned to spend "in the hundreds of millions" marketing the phones.

The rollout of the phones was delayed by more than a year. By the time they were unveiled at a glitzy January launch event in New York, BlackBerry's market share had shriveled. In a decision that confused some in the industry, BlackBerry pushed out the touch-screen Z10 first, even though its fans valued BlackBerry for the keyboard.