[AmritD]

BlackBerry is yet to launch the DTEK50 in India and the Indian market is hyper price sensitive. But the BlackBerry name still carries somewhat Goodwill
They should tie up with online retailers like Flipkart and Amazon and have an online only release
The reason is simple. BlackBerry always somehow manages to over price it's phone in India (supposedly due to taxes and distribution channels, John Chen had even tweeted that they sold Priv at the same price as everywhere else but the distributors decided the final price)
Having an online only model will help them use Flipkart's and Amazon's existing delivery mechanisms and also keep their costs low so both the phones have a decent shot at selling
It might also 'maybe' help them market their phones better.
Don't give any free accessories like Power Bank or cases, just try to keep the price as low as possible.
Ideal Price for DTEK50 :

[JeepBB]

I see how that would benefit BB.

What do Flipkart & Amazon get out of it?

[AmritD]

I see how that would benefit BB.

What do Flipkart & Amazon get out of it?

Obviously BlackBerry would give them a cut
Like they give the distributors!
They would always want exclusive sales

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[JeepBB]

Obviously BlackBerry would give them a cut
Like they give the distributors!
They would always want exclusive sales

Z30STA100-2/10.3.2.2876

Yeah...

So, your plan as I see it is that Amazon would bear all the costs of import taxes and distribution so that BB could sell the D50 cheaper, and in return Amazon would get a cut of the sale, which as a retailer they would get anyway.

You really don't understand business at all, do you?

[AmritD]

Yeah...

So, your plan as I see it is that Amazon would bear all the costs of import taxes and distribution so that BB could sell the D50 cheaper, and in return Amazon would get a cut of the sale, which as a retailer they would get anyway.

You really don't understand business at all, do you?

I am not asking amazon to bear any sort of import taxes
If BlackBerry was to sell through Amazon, it would save on its distribution channel costs(Middlemen keeping their commission) which they could pass onto the customers
I am not sure you understand how things work in India, do you?

Posted via CB10

[JeepBB]

I am not asking amazon to bear any sort of import taxes
If BlackBerry was to sell through Amazon, it would save on its distribution channel costs(Middlemen keeping their commission) which they could pass onto the customers
I am not sure you understand how things work in India, do you?

OK, I'll try one more time.

Somebody is going to import phones into India.
The Indian government charges that somebody Import taxes.
That somebody will also get a bill from the shipper for bringing those phones into India.
Normally that somebody is the distributor. They recover those extra costs by charging a higher price to their customer when they sell those phones.
Those extra costs are why, as you've said, the price of these phones in India is higher than in some other places.

Under your plan Amazon becomes that somebody. So Amazon would have to pay those taxes and other costs.

And, because the whole basis for your plan is for a consumer to be able to buy the phone cheaper it would mean that Amazon couldn't pass those extra costs on so Amazon will take a loss and eat those extra costs.

Amazon won't do that. They're a business. They aim to make profits by selling things for more than it cost them to make it available to sell.

I'm sure India is a lovely place, but business, importation duties, and shipping costs don't work differently there.

[AmritD]

OK, I'll try one more time.

Somebody is going to import phones into India.
The Indian government charges that somebody Import taxes.
That somebody will also get a bill from the shipper for bringing those phones into India.
Normally that somebody is the distributor. They recover those extra costs by charging a higher price to their customer when they sell those phones.
Those extra costs are why, as you've said, the price of these phones in India is higher than in some other places.

Under your plan Amazon becomes the distributor. So Amazon would have to pay those taxes and other costs.

And, because the whole basis for your plan is for a consumer to be able to buy the phone cheaper it would mean that Amazon couldn't pass those extra costs on so Amazon will take a loss and eat those extra costs.

Amazon won't do that. They're a business. They aim to make profits by selling things for more than it cost them to make it available to sell.

I'm sure India is a lovely place, but business, importation duties, and shipping costs doesn't work differently there.

In case amazon does become that person, they should totally pass on the costs to customers
But remember, BlackBerry obviously won't sell the DTEK50 at $299?
But if amazon is that person, they will keep a marginal commission on the sales
because offline sales are always more expensive than online sales
So my point is,even if amazon is that person, the phone even with all the duties, will still cost less(as compared to BlackBerry's existing model in India) due to lower costs being incurred overall

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[JeepBB]

OK, I'm out.

Good luck with pitching your plan to Amazon.

[MikeX74]

OK, I'm out.

Good luck with pitching your plan to Amazon.

You tried.

[thurask]

How about they just don't sell it in India? Works for me.

[JeepBB]

How about they just don't sell it in India? Works for me.

I suspect that works for John Chen too...

[AmritD]

I suspect that works for John Chen too...

He did mention India is one of the priority markets for BlackBerry
Ah well he could be lying



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[JeepBB]

He did mention India is one of the priority markets for BlackBerry
Ah well he could be lying

It was a joke. See the winky-eye smiley?

How are you getting on with the sales pitch to Amazon?

(^^^ no smiley, therefore serious question. See the difference?)

[AmritD]

OK, I'm out.

Good luck with pitching your plan to Amazon.

Okay I'll try one more time.
Right now, somebody imports the BlackBerry phones to India, pays the duty, adds his commission and sells it to the offline shops. Who then add their commission and sell it to the customer.
If amazon imported the phones, it would pay the imports, add their commission and sell it to the customer. This would in my opinion save considerable costs. Also, most likely amazon will incur lesser costs due it's online model as compared to offline shops.
Now I am out

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[JeepBB]

Okay I'll try one more time.
Right now, somebody imports the BlackBerry phones to India, pays the duty, adds his commission and sells it to the offline shops. Who then add their commission and sell it to the customer.
If amazon imported the phones, it would pay the imports, add their commission and sell it to the customer. This would in my opinion save considerable costs. Also, most likely amazon will incur lesser costs due it's online model as compared to offline shops.
Now I am out

Yes, I understood you the first time.

It doesn't make any more financial sense now as it did then.

Why would Amazon's logistics costs be any different to the distributors? Do the Indian government charge Amazon a different import tax rate? Do the shippers?

The online vs offline model also makes little difference. Amazon have to import the physical phone into the country, unless you believe the phone somehow magically squeezes through the phone lines to arrive in India. Amazon's costs would be near-identical, if not actually identical, to the distributor's costs.

The distributor recovers those costs by pricing the phone higher in India than elsewhere... Amazon would do the same because they are a business and not a charity devoted to providing cheap BB phones to the fans.

But, as I've said, it's not me you have to convince. Perhaps get back to me when you've had a chance to speak to Amazon?

[elfuzz]

I know india did have a 29.44% import duty on mobile phones plus a 1% landing charge. But i thought they chopped it down in like to a 12.5% countervailing duty + the 1% landing charge. of course that likely wouldnt have helped with the privs that were already in country, but its a pretty substantial reduction

[itsnotaboutart]

I don't pretend to be an expert in India, but I believe that I read recently that Apple is moving some production of iPhones to India to enable it to open Apple stores in the country. Apparently the rules do not allow a foreign company to have a retail store in India unless the goods are made in India.

All this is to say: Can anyone who has more knowledge about India than me (i.e., really any knowledge) provide insight into whether online sales for phones are common in India? Seems like Apple is going to a lot of trouble for minimal benefit if it could just sell online.

Posted via CB10

[Tien-Lin Chang]

I just checked amazon website which you can select India as shipping destination when you trying to buy a passport, priv or other devices from individual sellers as long as buyer pays for the extra cost just like you buying things from eBay so really what's the potential need and profit for Amazon to officially step in this game? Not to mention the warranty issue of they officially involve the sell..... How that could possibly benefit amazon in anyway?

Also I'm not sure why this idea require a new "online only" model when blackberry has already struggle to sell those existing model? Why blackberry or amazon wants to risk on extra cost of produce, shipping and storage a new model?

Just buy whatever you can find from 3rd party seller on eBay/amazon and problem solved unless the need in India is that strong - say you can get deposit for like 1m device then direct order like a one-time sell from blackberry? Do you really think blackberry got the human power to maintain yet another variant model? When apple cut their models from around 5 to 3 worldwide, it's already stupid enough for blackberry to stay the old -1/-2/-3/-4 models in their tiny market share. It would be utter resource waste to put more stress on the company and team by adding one more model without clear definition.