BlackBerry Refutes Reports that Z10 Returns Exceed Sales

From DailyTech: BlackBerry has a lot riding on its new BB10 operating system, the recently released Z10 smartphone, and the upcoming Q10 QWERTY smartphone. Late last month, BlackBerry showed some signs of life when it announced that it had shipped one million Z10 smartphones and reported Q4 2012 profit of $94 million USD.

With its turnaround well underway, it should come as no surprise that the folks at BlackBerry were none too pleased at recent analyst reports that cast a bad light on its flagship Z10. According to Joe Fersedi, an analyst for ITG, the Z10 launched started off "poorly and weakened significantly as the days passed." He also noted that sales were barely ahead of BlackBerry's decrepit BlackBerry 7.x devices.

But while Fersedi's comments were damaging, Detwiler analyst Jeff Johnston went for the jugular, stating, “We believe key retail partners have seen a significant increase in Z10 returns to the point where, in several cases, returns are now exceeding sales, a phenomenon we have never seen before."

BlackBerry was quick to respond, with CEO Thorsten Heins stating:

"Sales of the BlackBerry Z10 are meeting expectations and the data we have collected from our retail and carrier partners demonstrates that customers are satisfied with their devices. Return rate statistics show that we are at or below our forecasts and right in line with the industry. To suggest otherwise is either a gross misreading of the data or a willful manipulation. Such a conclusion is absolutely without basis and BlackBerry will not leave it unchallenged."

BlackBerry isn't taking these "false and misleading" statements made by these analysts lightly, and today is filing an official complaint with the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Ontario Securities Commission.

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