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Cape Town - BlackBerry will release its new smartphone in South Africa in early November, the company announced on Wednesday.
The uniquely shaped Passport is the fourth device that the company has launched to run its BlackBerry 10 operating system.
Unlike traditional BlackBerry smartphones, the latest devices are not offered with the BlackBerry Internet Service that continues to be used by a large chunk of South Africans.
BlackBerry is hoping that the square Passport will enjoy adoption in the country.
Despite the growth of Samsung in SA, high priced smartphones face a struggle for mass adoption. The BlackBerry Z10 still enjoys an undercurrent of healthy sales, if the feedback from independent retailers is anything to go by.
Price
In fact, an informal survey revealed that a number of BlackBerry Z10s were being sold to cash buyers who are particularly sensitive to price.
"Not a day goes by without at least one person asking about a Z10," was a typical response from a mobile salesperson in Cape Town.
When asked how the sales were doing with higher priced devices, the answer was emphatic: "Those don't sell: People don't want to spend that kind of money."
BlackBerry didn't hold back from taking shots at the competition with its Passport. The company claims 30 hours of battery use and a "pixel density of 453ppi, offering the best resolution of any device in its range including the Galaxy S5 and iPhone 6 Plus".
Pricing has not been announced, but based on the BlackBerry Z3 which was aggressively priced, expectations are that the Passport will follow the same pattern.
Developing countries like SA, Indonesia and India are key BlackBerry markets because these are more sensitive to data price than developed regions.
US spying
Unlike Android devices, BlackBerry generally uses less data over time and the issue of spying by US government agencies has contributed to a number of government leaders choosing BlackBerry.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has joined a list of growing world leaders who are using BlackBerry devices. US President Barack Obama is well known for using a BlackBerry smartphone.
The BlackBerry Passport comes bundled with the Amazon Appstore and a Siri-like digital assistant.
Check out The Verge's online video of the BlackBerry Passport.
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