[PantherBlitz]

I understand the message Marty provided. What I don't understand is what caused the seemingly optimistic outlook to turn sour. Is it poor sales? If that was the internal metric to justify the program, I think they should have kept a tighter lip about the device until seeing concrete sales figures of dtek50.
In light of the fact that this pkb program must have been active for several years to date, the fact that Chen announced the pkb alongside dtek50/60, and the fact that the trio of phones were announced in conjunction with the possibility of hardware shutting down, why can't BB release the pkb aka. mercury and start the new licensing strategy afterwards? Surely their licensing strategy wasn't something they pulled out of their hat within the past 2 months?

It could be. Sales tanked so hard last quarter that they only way Chen could keep his job was to throw in the towel.

It now appears to me that the Priv was allowed to be released because it was paid for. They knew that the DTEKs would take about a year to get to market and were hoping that the Priv could hold the line until then. What surprised them (and AT&T) was the extent of just how much of a failure the Priv would turn out to be.

With carrier relationships ended by the Priv, BlackBerry could no longer see a pathway to sales of their existing lineup, let alone future devices. The DTEKs were released with no expectations since they were already ordered. Don't be surprised to see them on ShopBB for a few years as they try to recover some of their costs. It makes no sense to add the Merc to this inventory unless they are contractually obligated to do so.

[cgk]

I think people get too hung up on who's building the phone when at the end of the day, BlackBerry hasn't built phones in Waterloo for example in YEARS.

Posted via CB10

I think what people will get hung up on is - when you buy a Wangtron licensed Blackberry is that you have no relationship with Blackberry, you rely on Wangtron's customer service (or lack of it if it is a low-end device).

[ardakca]

You don't need to tell me. I'm fully aware. I like Marty Beard, he's a nice guy, he's good for BlackBerry, but everything was going nicely between the comments made by John Chen and Alex Thurber. Then, Marty said what he said and now everything is twisted up in confusion again.

As for the rest of your comments, all I have to say on those are... I've been saying all along that the supposed renders of the Mercury look too good for a device supposedly built by BlackBerry. I'm not talking about Dylan's renders, just those initial ones that popped up that Dylan based his off of.

So if BlackBerry is not building the mercury then it might look that good

So Bla1ze, is it coming or not? Do you have the latest info? ) it is changing every day. Maybe we should put a counter or something like that on the front page. If it is coming or not

[yessuz]

If there is no pkb device, passpsort was my last berry. The next would be Chinese glass slab.

But gosh I hate glass slabs

Posted via CB10

[Uzi]

If there is no pkb device, passpsort was my last berry. The next would be Chinese glass slab.

But gosh I hate glass slabs

Posted via CB10

Have you see the xiaomi MI mix looks awesome!

[ardakca]

If there is no pkb device, passpsort was my last berry. The next would be Chinese glass slab.

But gosh I hate glass slabs

Posted via CB10

[yessuz]

I have seen it. It is still a glass slab. I cannot type on glass

When I ditched my Z10 and came to passport, the amount of my mistyped letters dropped by 95%.

How many times you wanted to press "K" and pressed "J" or "L"?

I see same with my wife for example. Changed her Q5 to Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 and she makes a lot of those mistypes like I almost never

Posted via CB10

[ci00aaj]

I'm wondering if HTC might be an ideal partner to build this phone...after all (apart from blackberry) they probably have the most recent experience in building pkb phones and seem quite happy to build for others

[ardakca]

I'm wondering if HTC might be an ideal partner to build this phone...after all (apart from blackberry) they probably have the most recent experience in building pkb phones and seem quite happy to build for others

No other big players other than Samsung, Huawei or Lenovo are financially strong enough to produce the pkb.

[Bla1ze]

I think what people will get hung up on is - when you buy a Wangtron licensed Blackberry is that you have no relationship with Blackberry, you rely on Wangtron's customer service (or lack of it if it is a low-end device).

Lol @ Wangtron.

[keyboardweeb]

Have you see the xiaomi MI mix looks awesome highly breakable!

Fix'd.

Dropped my Classic onto a hard floor once, face down. Not a scratch. I doubt the Mi Mix would fare so well.

[slagman5]

Fix'd.

Dropped my Classic onto a hard floor once, face down. Not a scratch. I doubt the Mi Mix would fare so well.

I've dropped my Classic a few times already also not a mark on it. I don't have a case on it or anything.

Posted without the aid of AutoCorrect with my physical keyboard via CB10

[anon(9607753)]

Personally I don't find what Beard said to be confusing at all. In fact, he's the only one of the three (Thurber, Chen) who is being straight up about BlackBerry's position on this issue. Sure, saying DTEK60 is their last device was not the best thing to say on launch day. However, it is not Beard but rather Thurber's "yes man" approach and Chen's abstractions that have led to the confusion and mixed messages on devices. For Chen, one has to wonder if it is just a matter of ego to not admit defeat at this point, given that he has been systematically dismantling the hardware division since 2014 while continually stating publicly that they were still making a go of it.

[Empyrean]

The clear answer is that it is being built by Apple, with the employees they stole from BlackBerry's QnX team.

[aespix]

Can't wait for it, will be my next device,

I'm just so done with full slab devices now, it's just so clich�,

Will happily go back to using a full time pkb as I did my passport.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

I understand the message Marty provided. What I don't understand is what caused the seemingly optimistic outlook to turn sour. Is it poor sales? If that was the internal metric to justify the program, I think they should have kept a tighter lip about the device until seeing concrete sales figures of dtek50.
In light of the fact that this pkb program must have been active for several years to date, the fact that Chen announced the pkb alongside dtek50/60, and the fact that the trio of phones were announced in conjunction with the possibility of hardware shutting down, why can't BB release the pkb aka. mercury and start the new licensing strategy afterwards? Surely their licensing strategy wasn't something they pulled out of their hat within the past 2 months?

They have concrete sales figures... Chen doesn't have to wait for the earnings report to know how sales are going. Let's face it, how could the DTEK50 have sold well?

No marketing
No US carriers
No faith that BlackBerry would stick with hardware - thus no option for enterprise.

They can't move forward with the Mercury... because they can't afford to lose more money. Look at where their Cash Reserves are, look at how much they are forced to write off on hardware each quarter.

I'm not sure of the confusion.... Chen said they would be out of the hardware selling business and have it all off the books by the end of the fiscal year. Yeah he said he'd think about the Mercury, kinda like parents tell their kids they will think about something that they have no intention of doing. Marty just laid it out there that they won't be doing it, with the hope that maybe someone else will eventually.

Alex is the guy that was throwing out false hope about the Mercury and even BB10 having a shot at a 2nd life.....

[Sigewif]

They have concrete sales figures... Chen doesn't have to wait for the earnings report to know how sales are going. Let's face it, how could the DTEK50 have sold well?

No marketing
No US carriers
No faith that BlackBerry would stick with hardware - thus no option for enterprise.

They can't move forward with the Mercury... because they can't afford to lose more money. Look at where their Cash Reserves are, look at how much they are forced to write off on hardware each quarter.

I'm not sure of the confusion.... Chen said they would be out of the hardware selling business and have it all off the books by the end of the fiscal year. Yeah he said he'd think about the Mercury, kinda like parents tell their kids they will think about something that they have no intention of doing. Marty just laid it out there that they won't be doing it, with the hope that maybe someone else will eventually.

Alex is the guy that was throwing out false hope about the Mercury and even BB10 having a shot at a 2nd life.....

Alex Thurber is supposed to be marketing for BlackBerry. I think he has been trying to bring a hopeful message because he sees how the negative messages lose customers. He was trying to make the effort to bring them some measure of hope in how he said things. For the launch of the DTEK60, they did not use him. I found it to be a drab launch presentation. No spontaneous enthusiasm, no hype. And for what is a highly spec'ed phone.

[AmritD]

Alex Thurber is supposed to be marketing for BlackBerry. I think he has been trying to bring a hopeful message because he sees how the negative messages lose customers. He was trying to make the effort to bring them some measure of hope in how he said things. For the launch of the DTEK60, they did not use him. I found it to be a drab launch presentation. No spontaneous enthusiasm, no hype. And for what is a highly spec'ed phone.

Frankly speaking, thurber would have done a better job with the launch
He should have launched it! He's the head of sales


Z30STA100-2/10.3.2.2876

[slagman5]

Frankly speaking, thurber would have done a better job with the launch
He should have launched it! He's the head of sales


Z30STA100-2/10.3.2.2876

I agree, Thurber seems fairly charismatic. Something we need in the public face of BB...

Posted without the aid of AutoCorrect with my physical keyboard via CB10

[anon(9607753)]

I agree, Thurber seems fairly charismatic. Something we need in the public face of BB...

Posted without the aid of AutoCorrect with my physical keyboard via CB10

Thurber must has sold too many DTEK50's so Chen had to stick Marty in there and put some more nails in that device coffin ASAP. Devices NEED to fail, that's the ONLY thing that will guarantee Chen's pivot. The pivot he has been concealing behind the cloak and dagger of new device announcements for the last three years.

Yeah Chen, we believe you...Mercury is on your desk. And I'm sure if it holds the promise of selling well, its going to make you a great paperweight.

[AmritD]

Thurber must has sold too many DTEK50's so Chen had to stick Marty in there and put some more nails in that device coffin ASAP. Devices NEED to fail, that's the ONLY thing that will guarantee Chen's pivot. The pivot he has been concealing behind the cloak and dagger of new device announcements for the last three years.

Yeah Chen, we believe you...Mercury is on your desk. And I'm sure if it holds the promise of selling well, its going to make you a great paperweight.

Without getting all of that
Thurber did say in an interview he's happy with how the DTEK50 is selling
But I wouldn't buy too much into it

Z30STA100-2/10.3.2.2876

[Ehizzle88]

No dark hub either I bet...

Posted without the aid of AutoCorrect with my physical keyboard via CB10

Posted via CB10

[hjc73734]

I don't care who builds it as long as it's got a nice feeling keyboard like my Passport. Phones these days mostly have good build quality even the mid tier offerings

[Niels B]

[Niels B]