Shares of BlackBerry (BBRY) were down 4.5% in midday trading Monday on the heels of several reports from analysts that expressed disappointment in this weekend's U.S. launch of its newest smartphone, the Z10.
AT&T (T) launched the Z10 at retail stores on Friday for $199, with contract, following pre-orders that began March 12.
"Our checks across major cities show mixed first weekend Z10 sell through," wrote Mark Sue, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets. "Checks show limited carrier advertising commitments in the U.S. and limited enthusiasm among U.S. consumers."
"No fanfare, few promotions, no lines at the stores and unimpressive sales figures," Doradla wrote.
Citigroup and Goldman Sachs also issued negative comments about the BlackBerry.
The touch-screen Z10 was announced on Feb. 5, initially with limited availability in Canada and the U.K. It is the first phone with the BlackBerry 10 operating system and is to be followed by the Q10, which has a physical keyboard. They are the boldest steps taken by the company to turn around the severe market share losses it has seen from the Apple (AAPL) iPhone and phones based on the Google (GOOG) Android platform.
Verizon Wireless (VZ) started taking pre-orders on the Z10 on March 14, and plans to start store sales on Thursday. Sprint Nextel (S) does not plant to sell the Z10 but instead will focus on the Q10. T-Mobile plans to start selling the Z10 for $249 on Tuesday.
Analyst Sue said the initial launch of the Z10 in February, in Canada, the U.K., France, India and other countries appeared "healthy."
"The true measure of success will not be just units but also sustainable profitability, and it may take BlackBerry 2-3 years to reach sustainable earnings growth," he wrote.
BlackBerry is slated to report its latest financial results on Thursday. The stock was trading near 14.20 in the stock market today, still up from a more than nine-year low of 6.22 touched on Sept. 24.
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