BlackBerry reports quarterly profit, one million sales of new Z10

BlackBerry announced better than expected results on Thursday, driven by demand for its new touchscreen device which holds the key to a successful turnaround for the smartphone maker.

BlackBerry, based in Waterloo, Ontario-based, said it sold about 1 million of the new Z10 device in the quarter, and shipped roughly 6 million smartphones in the quarter ended March 2.

Net income in the quarter was $98 million, or 19 cents a share, compared with a year earlier profit of $9 million, or 2 cents a share.

(Reporting by Euan Rocha; Editing by Janet Guttsman)