Though it signed up to offer the Q10, Sprint may have made bigger news for the BlackBerry 10 model it wouldn't be carrying: the full-touch Z10, which has generally gotten more buzz than its QWERTY-equipped counterpart since BlackBerry's launch event in January.
We can independently corroborate a report from AllThingsD this afternoon that Sprint does intend to carry a full-touch BlackBerry 10 phone in 2013 — but not until the second half the year. Our sources describe Sprint's model as "a version 2.0" of the Z10; a BlackBerry executive has previously said to expect "at least" six BlackBerry 10 models this year, so it's reasonable to think that one of those could be a refreshed version.
While BlackBerry 10's ability to capture a meaningful percentage of the market will be an open question for some time to come, Sprint's decision not to carry the Z10 came as a surprise — AT&T and Verizon have both committed to selling both models, while T-Mobile is on tap for the Z10 and is widely rumored to be introducing the Q10.