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BlackBerry: Z10 launches in Canada, UK were the company's best ever

The launch of the Z10 is a critical moment for BlackBerry, a bellwether for whether it's truly on the road to recovery. It's good news, then, that early British and Canadian sales are reportedly far healthier than what the crew in Waterloo has seen in the past. CEO Thorsten Heins says that the Canadian launch on the 5th saw sales 50 percent better than any previous BlackBerry launch in the country, a rather important metric when it's the company's homeland. In terms of sheer growth, though, the UK reigns -- first-week sales in the nation were nearly three times those of any previous BlackBerry release in the area. These are relative figures when BlackBerry had to spend much of 2012 without new flagship devices, and there's no definitive numbers, but they're encouraging for a company that's had trouble getting traction as of late. Read the full statement after the break.

"In Canada, yesterday was the best day ever for the first day of a launch of a new BlackBerry smartphone. In fact, it was more than 50% better than any other launch day in our history in Canada," said Thorsten Heins, President & CEO of BlackBerry. "In the UK, we have seen close to three times our best performance ever for the first week of sales for a BlackBerry smartphone."