BlackBerry India has confirmed that Managing Director Sunil Dutt, who in recent times presided over the India launch of the BlackBerry Z10 smartphone, has stepped down with immediate effect.

Confirming Mr. Dutt's resignation, a spokesperson for BlackBerry India, said, "I can confirm Sunil Dutt has left his position as Managing Director, BlackBerry India with immediate effect. We wish Sunil well for the future."

The spokesperson added that Rick Costanzo, Executive Vice President for BlackBerry Global Sales, will oversee the responsibilities left by Mr. Dutt at the Indian arm of the company until the company a new Sales leader.

The spokesperson also stressed that India was a very important market for BlackBerry, and that the company would keep on growing on the recent momentum that it received from the launch of BlackBerry 10.

The news of Mr. Dutt unexpected resignation surprised many as BlackBerry chief executive Thorsten Heins recently stated that stocks of the Z10 smartphone sold out in just two days in India, which was surprising even for the company.

The Z10 may have been reporting strong sales, but BlackBerry owner RIM's market is still on the decline in India. With a market share of just 4.7 per cent, BlackBerry is at the fourth spot, far behind Nokia, Samsung and Micromax. The Canada-based smartphone maker's revenues slipped 25 per cent from Rs 1,950 crore in 2011 to Rs 1,460 crore in 2012.