[darkehawke]

Hey there fellow BB addicts

Let me start by saying that this thread is purely my opinion which I have formed by reading a lot of the articles surrounding Blackberry and RIM. Many of you will disagree, all I ask is that any comments remain constructive rather then abusive.
Now we all know Blackberry have fallen, maybe not quite as far as most would have you believe, but things are far from good. Blackberry 10 is almost here and is meant to lead Blackberry back to the good times. Except I dont think it will put Blackberry back on top.
Dont get me wrong, I think Blackberry 10 looks great, and I can not wait for it to be released. But so far I have not seen anything that can deliver a knockout blow to Android or iOS. Maybe there is a major secret that will be revealed in January, but for now i'm going to assume there isnt. Based on what i have seen so far, BB10 will not be enough to draw the dedicated Android and iOS users over to BB. BB10 will however give reasons for BB fans not to jump ship, and it should do enough to convincingly beat WP8. For this to happen however, RIM needs to get BB10 out into the world as much as it can. The L-series and the N-series needs to be cheaper than the iPhone 5 and the S3. It is worth RIM taking a hit in sales profits just to establish their OS amongst the markets. If the A-series comes along then that will be a true flagship phone and compete with the other systems dominant phone's on price. More importantly Blackberry needs an entry level Curve like device that they can use to retain their large teen followers. Make it easy to get BB10. Offer upgrades from existing BB's. Let the word spread.
If BB10 performs as well as i think it will, it will stabilise RIM's fortunes and put Blackberry in a healthy third position. But for Blackberry to really start chipping into iOS and Android, we need the OS to offer more. Now no new software is without its faults and a lot of time will be spent fixing the inevitable problems that BB10 will throw up.
Once that is done, i think BB10 will fulfil it's role, of stabilising Blackberry, fending off WP8, and providing a sturdy platform in which Blackberry can assault Android and iOS with perhaps BB 10.5 or even BB11.
I really hope Blackberry 10 succeeds, but i dont want to see RIM make the mistakes of the past and rest on their laurels. they need to keep moving forward, and while i admit i have suggested no new ways they can do this, i hope that after playing with BB10 i will have a firm idea of just how capable it could be.
Thanks for reading, and if you disagree or agree with my sentiments please feel free to discuss.

[timmy t]

I think they have to charge more than the Android phones. Android phones are considered inexpensive alternatives and RIM wants the BB to be aspirational.
Maybe they can have an deal where if you upgrade from Android phones or Apple phones in the first two months, you save $50 or $100 but they cannot make the normal retail price less than Android.
The whole thing boils down to marketing and what the kids think is cool. If the right Hollywood people and musicians start using them, they will be seen as cool again, just like the rappers made Cadillac cool again to their fans.
We don't want RIM competing with Android on price.

Also, I don't think Android users are that loyal. They are interested in inexpensive phones and Apple is too expensive for them.

[darkehawke]

I agree more than the majority of Android Phones, but the S3 is not cheap by any means. i think the curve alternative can easily be on par with the majority of Android phones however. The curves biggest selling point is that it's cheap. And the curve is arguably the biggest selling blackberry amongst the consumer base

[cfx_will]

I agree for the most part. People are comfortable in their OS especially ones that other people are using as well. For them to adopt BB10, There must be something more significant. Right now BB10 is still trying to match what the competition is doing so far but they wont win customers by matching but by exceeding. Peter Misek mentions that BB10 has 30% chance of success and that's already better than than the near 0% that they predicted a while back but still, 30% isn't good enough, there's still 70% chance that when BB10 hits the market, there will be a lukewarm response. People will not care unless something special really get their attention.

[IndyDan417]

General question I can't find addressed anywhere - is the new BB10 OS available as an upgrade to an existing OS (I have a Torch 9810) or does it require the purchase of a new phone altogether? Thanks Dan

[DJM626]

General question I can't find addressed anywhere - is the new BB10 OS available as an upgrade to an existing OS (I have a Torch 9810) or does it require the purchase of a new phone altogether? Thanks Dan

BB10 is brand new and was built from ground up. It is not compatible on any BB's that are offered right now. You have to purchase one of the new phones that will be announced at the end of Jan in order to have the BB10 O/S

[AfroZepher]

General question I can't find addressed anywhere - is the new BB10 OS available as an upgrade to an existing OS (I have a Torch 9810) or does it require the purchase of a new phone altogether? Thanks Dan

It Requires a new purchase . . .
And to address the OP, I agree but what I want to ask is do you think BB10 will have more success in places like Canada, the UK and Latin America? And if so, do you think it will be enough to make RIM profitable again so they can have a fighting chance to get back market share in the states?

[IndyDan417]

It Requires a new purchase . . .
And to address the OP, I agree but what I want to ask is do you think BB10 will have more success in places like Canada, the UK and Latin America? And if so, do you think it will be enough to make RIM profitable again so they can have a fighting chance to get back market share in the states?

Thanks for the response, albeit sad to hear. So all the hoopla over the new OS doesn't do those of us stuck under contract much good, bummer. Dan

[AfroZepher]

Thanks for the response, albeit sad to hear. So all the hoopla over the new OS doesn't do those of us stuck under contract much good, bummer. Dan

yea. . .just got to wait it out. . .