Taking a cue from technology rivals Apple and Samsung, Canadian smartphone BlackBerry has introduced an EMI (equated monthly instalments) scheme for its flagship BlackBerry Z10 and Curve 922 with an aim to attract price-conscious buyers in India.
According to BlackBerry India, its flagship touch-screen smartphone Z10 (priced close to ₹42,500) can be purchased by paying an EMI of ₹4,799 for a period of nine months, whereas the QWERTY-based Curve 9220 (priced ₹9,790) can be bought by paying monthly a instalment of ₹799 for 12 months.
To find out the nearest retail store offering the scheme, prospective buyers can SMS BBEMI < City Name or Pin-code> to 575758.
The EMI scheme also includes zero down payments, zero processing fees and zero interest rates and can be availed at more than 2,500 outlets across India. In a bid to extend its reach, BlackBerry has joined hands with a number of banks including Citibank, HDFC, HSBC, SBI (State Bank of India), Axis Bank, Standard Chartered, Kotak, and ICICI Bank to introduce the scheme.
The company has also tied-up with Idea Cellular network to offer the 1GB/month mobile internet pack for BlackBerry Curve 9220 buyers, with an annual charge of ₹999 in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai circles.
Apple takes the credit to be the first to launch the creative EMI promotional ad campaign and exchange offers for its premium iPhone models in India. The company reaped huge profits and became the second biggest smartphone seller in India in terms of revenue. Samsung too followed suit to launch EMI plans for its flagship Galaxy smartphones and phablet Note series.
