BlackBerry: No, our Z10s aren't coming back in 'unusually high numbers'

Thorsten Heins, chief executive of smartphone maker BlackBerry, has hit out at claims that one of the company's new BlackBerry 10-based handsets are being returned to retailers in "unusually high numbers".

BlackBerry said research and investment firm Detwiler Fenton had claimed BlackBerry Z10 devices were being returned to operators and retailers in record numbers — a claim refuted by BlackBerry and Verizon Wireless.

"Sales of the BlackBerry Z10 are meeting expectations and the data we have collected from our retail and carrier partners demonstrates that customers are satisfied with their devices," Heins said in a statement on Thursday.

"Return rate statistics show that we are at or below our forecasts and right in line with the industry."

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BlackBerry said it is seeking a US Securities and Exchange Commission and Ontario Securities Commission review into the report in which the claims were made.

It said the report or methodology for collecting the data had not been made available to it.

BlackBerry said it would officially present its formal request to the US and Canadian regulators in the "next several days".

The BlackBerry Z10 is currently the company's only device on sale running its new BlackBerry 10 operating system. In its first quarterly results update since it started selling the Z10, BlackBerry said it had sold more than one million of the devices.

Update 16:00BST:

Detwiler Fenton responded to a request for comment with the following statement:

"We are confident in our research and methodology and we welcome any regulatory inquiry. Detwiler Fenton is not the only research provider publishing similar reports regarding customer reactions, sales, and returns of the BlackBerry Z10. It should also be noted that neither the research analyst nor any officer or director of Detwiler Fenton has any financial interest in BlackBerry."