After changing its name from Research In Motion (RIM) to BlackBerry last week, the Canada-based struggling smartphone manufacturer has now revealed that it is effectively withdrawing from the Japanese market.

With rival Apple having convincing surpassed BlackBerry with its popular iPhone, the company said in a recent statement that its eagerly-awaited two new BlackBerry 10 (BB10) handsets will not be made available in Japan.

Despite the fact that BlackBerry is banking heavily on its BB10 platforms for a turnaround in its fortunes, Japanese news outlet The Nikkei has revealed that the apparently reason for BlackBerry's decision to surrender in Japan is that while the company once had approximately 5 percent share of the country's smartphone market, its share has now plunged to just about 0.3 percent.

According to the statistics for the six-month period to September 2012, while the number of smartphones sold in Japan witnessed a 40 percent growth, to nearly 14 million, the sales of the BlackBerry devices in the country during the mentioned period has been less than 100,000 units.

Meanwhile, in connection with BlackBerry's decision to withdraw from the Japanese market, a company spokesman said Japan did not rank as a "major market" for BlackBerry, though the company will continue supporting Japanese customers on its network.