BlackBerry sold 6 million handsets in the previous quarter with roughly one million of those the new BlackBerry Z10.  Though the company still reported an operating loss of $1.2 billion, the fact that one million Z10s were sold is enough to lift the spirits of investors.  Also, the fact that BlackBerry was still able to sell older devices says that consumers still see value in the handsets, particularly those with full keyboards such as the Q10.

“I think the one million units is a nice start,” said Morningstar analyst Brian Colello.  “I think the encouraging thing is that BlackBerry was still able to sell a good portion of older models and generate solid service revenue during the transition.  I think that will be important in terms of cash balance and profitability.”

Analysts remain positive that this is a good start for BlackBerry and that the moderate success is expected to continue for this quarter.  Still, some are concerned that BlackBerry was overzealous in its Z10 efforts, making more handsets than there in demand.  If the new BlackBerry 10 devices don’t sell, the company will be posting bigger losses by August.

“We’re not surprised that the February quarter numbers are pretty good. We think the May quarter numbers will also be very good as they continue this global roll-out,” said Michael Genovese, MKM Partners managing director and senior analyst.

“The problem is if consumers don’t buy these phones, they have to start backing out these profits and revenues by the August quarter,” Genovese added. “And that’s what we think is going to happen.”

To prevent that from happening, BlackBerry needs to ramp up its marketing strategy to make people want the Z10 and Q10, the BlackBerry 10 device with a physical QWERTY keyboard.

“A strong BlackBerry 10 debut should set the company up for a profitable first quarter,” said Pierre Ferragu, a Sanford C. Bernstein & Co, who rates the stock the equivalent of a buy. “Initial corporate demand will be strong.”

Also, the fact that BlackBerry managed to sell older models means that consumers are looking for devices with physical QWERTY keypads.  This could only mean that BlackBerry sales will shoot up when the Q10 hits international markets, same goes for the Z10.

The messaging behind BlackBerry’s device release is key to the future of the phone-maker’s success in the consumer market, where it’s trying to regain dominance in the enterprise space.  Here with her analysis on BlackBerry’s tactics and ideas on BlackBerry’s next steps is our own Kristen Nicole, who appeared on this morning’s NewsDesk show with Kristin Feledy.

photo credit: Official BlackBerry Images via photopin cc