BlackBerry launches low-cost Q5 phone

The new BlackBerry Q5 is aimed at countries where smartphone use hasn't yet reached a saturation point.

BlackBerry on Tuesday unveiled the Q5, a lower-cost, brightly colored smartphone aimed at emerging markets.

"I know this is going be a big hit," said CEO Thorsten Heins, who showed off the device at the BlackBerry Live conference in Orlando.

Heins didn't talk much about the phone's hardware, but he did show off the Q5's BlackBerry-classic QWERTY keyboard and its 3.1-inch touchscreen. The phone's design is similar to that of the once-ubiquitous BlackBerry Curve and the recently released high-end Q10 device.
The Q5 will be available in multiple colors, including black, white, red, orange and pink. It will go on sale starting in July in "selected markets" in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America. Neither Heins nor BlackBerry's press release mentioned pricing for the Q5.
BlackBerry (BBRY) is struggling to regain share lost to Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) and Samsung in some Western markets -- namely, the United States -- but the company sees a major opportunity in countries where smartphone use hasn't yet reached saturation levels. The Q5 is aimed squarely at those regions.