Although the recently-released BlackBerry Q10 handsets appear to be selling well, stocks may be limited, according to broker houses Canaccord Genuity and Jefferies.

Analysts at Canaccord Genuity are not convinced that BlackBerry’s current supply of Q10 handsets will keep up with demand.

More worryingly, perhaps, the broker suspects that sales of BlackBerry Z10 handsets – launched in February – are already on the wane, particularly in the US.

Canaccord Genuity’s findings come on the heels of a similar report from Jefferies. While Jefferies reports the new Q10 smartphone is selling well in Canada and Britain, it also flags up “limited stock” of the device.

Jefferies says its findings are based on checks with mobile carriers and retailers in both countries, including Bell, Rogers and Telus in Canada, and Carphone Warehouse, Vodafone, and Orange in Britain.

Canaccord Genuity has now lowered its May quarter estimates from 3.3 million BlackBerry units to 2.8 million units.

One slither of good news is that the broker believes the company’s near-term results will be better because of higher margins from handsets based on the new BlackBerry 10 platform.

Longer term the picture looks bleaker. In the face of stiff competition from the likes of Samsung’s Galaxy S4 and HTC One, Canaccord Genuity reckons BlackBerry will find it difficult to maintain the necessary sales level to bring about a return to sustained profits.

In separate news, a photo of what might be a cheaper BlackBerry smartphone powered by BlackBerry 10 has been leaked online. Originally uploaded to an instagram account, the photo has now been removed from the website, but not before some eagle-eyed bloggers spotted it, made a copy, and circulated the image.