Sprint has now confirmed that it will not be carrying the BlackBerry Z10, the first phone to run the new BlackBerry 10 operating system. Instead, the carrier will only offer the keyboard-equipped BlackBerry Q10. Mark Elliott, a spokesman for the carrier, told Bloomberg that "we aren’t saying there’s anything different about our customers... we think our customers will be happy with the QWERTY keyboard and touchscreen on the Q10."

The news was not wholly unexpected: Sprint drew a bit of attention to itself in January when it released a press release announcing plans to sell the Q10 while failing to mention the Z10 whatsoever. At that time, Sprint representatives wouldn't confirm that the carrier had no intention to sell the touchscreen-only Z10. The three other major US carriers — AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile — have confirmed that they will sell the Z10, and all save for T-Mobile have promised support for the Q10. The Z10 is expected to go on sale this month in the US, while Americans will need to wait until May, at the earliest, for the QWERTY-equipped Q10.