Shares of BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY) rallied more than 12% on Monday after it was revealed that AT&T (NYSE: T) will begin selling the BlackBerry Z10 in the U.S. on March 22. In addition, renewed speculation that Lenovo could consider purchasing the Canadian handset maker has lifted shares.
BlackBerry rolled out two new phones earlier this year: the Z10 and the Q10. The Z10 is a standard slate-style smartphone, with only a touch screen for input. The Q10 comes equipped with BlackBerry’s famous QWERTY keyboard. The Z10 has been on sale in the UK and Canada for some time, with conflicting reports about sales figures.
With Z10 finally coming to the U.S. market at last, investors should get a better look at the phone’s viability. Of course, it’s likely to have its hands full: Samsung will debut its new Galaxy S4 on Thursday, while Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) could roll out the iPhone 5S this spring.
Meanwhile, Lenovo’s CEO renewed speculation that the company could purchase BlackBerry after he told a French financial newspaper that a deal could “possibly make sense.”
Both Lenovo and Samsung have been linked to BlackBerry in the past, particularly after the company hired RBC and JP Morgan last year to explore a potential sale.
Lenovo has said it wants to explore getting into the smartphone business, and a takeover of BlackBerry could facilitate that shift. But as Lenovo is Chinese owned, a deal could face a number of regulatory hurdles.
Shares of BlackBerry traded near $14.60 on Monday.
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