German government approves BlackBerry Z10 purchase

While the iPhone may be gaining allies with the U.S. government, the German government is still holding on to its loyal, trusty BlackBerry.

Germany's Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) approved a deal this week, reports AllThingsD, that will see the country purchase 5,000 BlackBerry Z10 touch-screen devices for civil servant and staff use. 

The devices will be fitted with Secusmart micro-SD card technology to bolster the device and the platform as a whole. (CNET's Stephen Shankland has more on Secusmart technology, which brings data encryption and secure voice and text messaging functionality to BlackBerry 10 devices.)

Analysts continue to speculate on sales figures and offer a wide berth of numbers, and BlackBerry is keeping quiet, not giving anything away except for vague statements about "better than expected" sales and suchlike.

But for BlackBerry, enterprise contracts are where the long term revenue is, and with consumer appeal still waning on the branding footing, the Canadian smartphone maker needs to claim its stake at the heart of the business world.

The German government's deal with BlackBerry may well be, despite the small number on the whole, one of the largest enterprise contracts the company has with BlackBerry 10 to date. That said, the U.S. government has seen a tumultuous time with the BlackBerry in recent weeks and months, with numerous U.S. departments ditching the older BlackBerry platform in favor of iPads and iPhones in the enterprise.

Many EU governments would still favor the BlackBerry over others, however, although in recent months the U.K. government approved iOS 6 for use in government, signaling a shift that even the loyal and faithful in Europe are preparing a switch to the rival platform.