Microsoft and Blackberry cut tech prices

Microsoft and Blackberry have both confirmed they are lowering the price of their flagship devices in a bid to increase sales.

Blackberry has dropped the cost of its new Z10 phone to as low as $49 (£32.40) with a contract in the US, which is down from $199 four months ago.

The Z10 was Blackberry's attempt to get back to the top of the smartphone market after it was overhauled by rivals such as Apple and Samsung.

Microsoft has also been aggressively pricing its products and the firm announced that it has dropped the cost of the 32GB Surface RT to £279 from £400 in the UK.

"It's a big deal for both companies," Tony Cripps, a telecoms analyst at Ovum, told the BBC. He added: "Competing with the Apples and Samsungs of this world is tough."

Samsung itself has been going through a sticky period of late after the company confirmed its profit forecasts are worse than had been expected.

Lee Sei-chul, an analyst at Seoul-based Meritz Securities, stated the slowdown in its handset business is worse than investors had predicted.

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