Blackberry is reportedly switching focus to mid-range handsets
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- AnonD-467722
- ups
- 14 Apr 2016
Agree, this is what you need for survive BBM. The problem of your latest release just the price.
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- Anonymous
- tSv
- 14 Apr 2016
AnonD-145833, 11 Apr 2016 "If they would have put the latest hardware into the phone... moreIndeed. They were absent from the market for so long that they didn't know what to do when the Blackberry name didn't lure back the customers the way they projected. I traded in my Z10 for a Z30 and would still use it if not for the fact that where I currently work I need a dual sim phone for work reasons.
So what would you do if you were Chen?
Me, knowing the financial situation and that the company is probably in their last year of producing new phones, I'd take the market by surprise and come out with the best possible flagship available with SD 823, 4GB RAM, 64GB, biggest battery you can fit into it with the best camera sensor, optics, etc. etc. All top of the line hardware.
Then surprise the market. No leaks on it. Nothing. Release it the end of September so that people will assume it is the mid-rangers you spoke of and then shock everyone with the announcement. Ride the holiday sales and hope for the best.
It most likely is too little, too late for Blackberry, but personally, I'd rather go out with resounding thunder instead of a whimper.
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- Anonymous
- tSv
- 14 Apr 2016
Michele, 09 Apr 2016You've got serious problems.The guy's right.
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- Anonymous
- tSv
- 14 Apr 2016
bb fan, 10 Apr 2016please DON'T stop making qwerty phones.. i prefer qwerty... moreIf BB was making money hand over fist they could afford to continue to make "niche" segment phones. But if it's not obvious to you, the market that supports the smartphone industry has left qwerty phones behind.
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- Anonymous
- tSv
- 14 Apr 2016
AnonD-51738, 09 Apr 2016GSMArena,
BlackBerry sold 600K devices and the majority w... moreBlackberry was marketing through high end channels (anyone remember the Blackberry logo on the Mercedes F1 car last season?) and they had a chance to continue to move in the right direction after the Z30 with the Z50 (before Chen pulled the plug with his qwerty "what are you smoking in your" pipe-dream.
He could have addressed the issues that most the people were critical of the Z10 and Z30:
Mainly, true flagship specs in the camera and processor department at a more reasonable price. BOS 10.x was a good OS out of the gate and they kept making it better.
Even if you don't like BOS 10.x, he could have come out with a flagship with and Android option (something I was critical of Nokia's trojan horse CEO "M.S." Elop refusing to do for obvious reasons) and let the market decide.
At the very least, if the Android phone was the winner, then some of the profits could have been used to fund continued BOS 10.x development. No different than what he's planning to do now if the mid-rangers are successful.
If he were as smart as he's convinced people he thinks he is, he should be putting 4 mid-rangers in the market, with both Android and BOS variants (current plans are only for 2 variants, both Android. One querty and one without.).
I agree with your comment though. He's ready to pull the plug at the end of this year and I think this 11th hour mid-range strategy is too little too late.
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- Anon
- Iki
- 11 Apr 2016
Pricing of Priv, under BlackBerry's circumstances, was certainly a strategic mistake. But it is ignorant to think the phone isn't worth the price.
It has some innovation that competition is lacking - capacitative keyboard comes to mind. It's so much fun to scroll without touching the screen.
It get's security updates on par with Nexus and iPhones. Not a single other brand does this.
And it's highly engineered because it's a slider. Now, it's a personal choice to like it or not like it. But it is certainly expensive to make and this the higher pricing.
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- AnonD-145833
- dQk
- 11 Apr 2016
Anonymous, 11 Apr 2016Very well said.
The Z10 was a good phone and BOS 10.x is... more "If they would have put the latest hardware into the phone and jammed it with 4GB RAM (even though the OS doesn't need it) "
Keywords in your post are "even though the OS doesn't need it". I agree that the first device was overpriced but I also think they shouldn't have done a fire sale in panic.
Even now there is simply no upgrade for the z10 on any platform. Closest in size and performance might be the Xperia z5 compact or iPhone SE. It was the for me at least the best out of the box experience of any handset that was touch based. There isn't anything in Android that comes near it at midrange and this phone is from 2013.
If your phone stops working and or gets stolen and you don't use apps much grab it for less than 50 dollars.
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- AnonD-145833
- dQk
- 11 Apr 2016
Smoke , 11 Apr 2016What about BB10 devices and future developments of it ?Most likely be security updates only. No more OS updates unless they manage to get 10.3.3 out which was promised for April.
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- AnonD-145833
- dQk
- 11 Apr 2016
Anonymous, 11 Apr 2016What is really sad (to me anyway, because I did like the BB... moreWhen it comes to phones it's about form factors.
I can see a BB Classic coming to Android. MS have learned they can sell their suite of apps cross platform without being tied down to hardware, Chen has also learned this.
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- Smoke
- NpS
- 11 Apr 2016
What about BB10 devices and future developments of it ?
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- Anonymous
- tSv
- 11 Apr 2016
Erick, 09 Apr 2016I couldn't agree more with the conclusions of this writer. ... moreIt won't happen with Chen in charge.
1. There's not enough loyalty base left to support the company. Only ones left are those who love the nostalgic qwerty phones and that's not enough to turn around the company. Chen has done nothing in the last 2.5 years to engage the Blackberry developers or user community.
2. The phone will be overpriced ($500) and qwerty.
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- Anonymous
- Pxc
- 11 Apr 2016
Talking about their success on the time I was just lured by Blackberry who later threw my device there on OS 7.
Now the phone still with me I don't consider buying more BB since nothing will promise for further support. BB you should learn how to take care your previous customer because they the one who going to buy your products.
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- Anonymous
- tSv
- 11 Apr 2016
gatter, 09 Apr 2016Honestly,Blackberry should leave the smartphone market alre... moreI disagree. They won't be the next Nokia because at least Nokia was bought out by Microsoft. If Chen keeps going this direction there will soon be nothing left of the company except patents and royalty revenue.
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- Anonymous
- tSv
- 11 Apr 2016
rebel, 09 Apr 2016Chen is !diot he never should abandon bb10 whch is still ac... moreWhat is really sad (to me anyway, because I did like the BB brand) is Chen could have studied what happened to Nokia to come up with a much better strategy (if you can call what he's doing a "strategy").
Look at the parallels. Elop sunk Nokia because he decided (due to his arrangement with Microsoft) to push Windows down the throat of the consumer in their Lumia line (Chen pushing querty down the throat of the consumer with all but 1 phone since his arrival).
Elop blaming the Nokia hardware for lackluster sales (Elop blaming BOS for lackluster sales)
Back then I was asking, why not put Android on the same flagship Lumia and let the market decide (they did finally put Android on a Lumix but not until after the Microsoft deal had been agreed to). Now I'm asking why Chen doesn't put BOS and Android on a true flagship phone and let the market decide?
Why not? I believe when Chen came in, he had already made up his mind that for Blackberry to be a success they needed to have a querty phone. Then, once that failed, instead of an admission he was wrong, he blamed it on BOS and figured a querty phone with Android would be the winner.
So what do you think the next midrange phone will be?
I am fairly confident it will be a midrange querty phone with Android! Chen has absolutely no clue about the smartphone business. At one point the Blackberry developers community was by far the strongest community in the mobilephone arena. He's done nothing to bring that back with BOS. I don't think he knows there's a word in the english dictionary called "marketing". I think he forgot the Blackberry brand at one time represented quality and OS security (think that could have been used when IOS was hacked by the FBI?)
I just don't see how Blackberry survives with this joker on the throne.
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- Anonymous
- tSv
- 11 Apr 2016
AnonD-82756, 10 Apr 2016I want BB to make some more qwerty handsets So does Chen! Here is the problem that you, him and maybe another million people have - There isn't a big enough market out there for it. If there was, the market wouldn't be dominated by touchscreen only phones. Samsung even came out with a few querty phones of their own and they were marginally successful...much like the Priv, Q5 and Passport. A lot of initial interest but marginal sales and if Chen keeps going in the same direction there will not be any Blackberry phones after 2017.
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- Anonymous
- tSv
- 11 Apr 2016
AnonD-524734, 10 Apr 2016I'm actually surprised they didn't exit the hardware busine... moreVery well said.
The Z10 was a good phone and BOS 10.x is in my opinion still the best OS out there. But charging what they did for the Z10 was way out of line. If they would have put the latest hardware into the phone and jammed it with 4GB RAM (even though the OS doesn't need it) a top notch camera and 64GB then it would have caught peoples attention and you could have justified the price and then some.
Now look at Chen and his latest strategy. It's quite sad given where they were in 2010.
You can look at Nokia to see how this is going to play out. The problem is in this economy, there is no Microsoft to buy out Blackberry and Chen doesn't have the connections to make a backroom deal. Consolidation is about the only way I see Blackberry surviving and I think the industry is ready for a lot of that to happen given the market saturation.
Blackberry and HTC merging would make sense. Both companies are struggling, but both have good quality products. HTC has the flagships and Blackberry has BOS and some quirky but OK midrange phones. The new company could support both Android and BOS versions of their phones and let the market decide the future direction of the company.
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- Anonymous
- Kxe
- 10 Apr 2016
Nobody cares.
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- AnonD-524734
- q8D
- 10 Apr 2016
I'm actually surprised they didn't exit the hardware business after they failed to capture a chunk of the enterprise market with bb10 two years ago. It was really their last chance to compete in an oversaturated market. Granted they were at least 5 years late to the game with bb10, and even later with their concession to moving their software stack to Android, but it's really things like the pipe dream that is even a moderate success in the mid tier that has been dominated by new players with clever strategies like oneplus and the deluge of upstart Chinese companies that have already eaten their lunch.
It's actually embarrassing how the twin ceos came to squander the fortune they amassed in the 00's. Playing catch up in the mid tier hardware segment won't save the company and the software offerings can't save them down the road either.
What value does "security" mean to the consumer and enterprise customer anymore? No, really? When was the last time you used the bloated BBM messenger for any amount of time over basically anything else?
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- AnonD-524734
- q8D
- 10 Apr 2016
Chen sealed his own fate when he infamously demoed the priv and referred to the software as having "the latest Google." He stumbled through the demo with a device that had not been set up and now exclaimed he loves the hardware business. Being the captain if a sinking ship won't save it no matter how smart and savvy a business person you are. I loved blackberry devices but relying nostalgia and brand loyalty isn't going to save the company Mr Chen.
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- AnonD-82756
- nFE
- 10 Apr 2016
I want BB to make some more qwerty handsets