[xandermac]

laptops and PCs don't have apps but we still use them as much as (if not more than) our phones.

What?.........

[tayl0rd]

...
So the easiest way to understand BBRY's prosumer niche strategy is that they intentionally plan on their products to appeal only to blond haired, green eyed males who like to read the Washington Post at 8AM on Tuesdays and watch Mad Men re-runs at 9PM on Sundays. I'm sure that exact niche exists but it's hard to market a product -- prosumer or otherwise -- to such a small slice of the world's consumer population.

It's not hard to market to such a niche ("prosumer") market at all. Who did RIM initially target? Highly mobile business people who were always on the go. A very tiny portion of the population. That worked out famously (literally) for them. The typical consumer wasn't even on RIM's radar. However, the "civilians" saw that all the highly successful and/or important people had BlackBerry devices in their hands. What happened next? The civilians wanted to get on-board so they could look important, too. BlackBerries were THE defacto smartphone to have, and anybody who was anybody or wanted to be somebody had to have one. Then the iPhone came along and told people they don't need a powerful phone that can do all kinds of stuff natively because "there's an app for that."

Anyway, back on the marketing thing. Look at Abercrombie & Fitch. They market only to slender white men and women of a certain age, height, and below a certain weight. I'm not sure about the rest of the world, but here in the States, over two thirds of the population is considered by the medical establishment to be overweight. Yet A&F hasn't folded up shop despite its very small, niche, laser focused target market, and scads of competition. They're still going to make residual sales to people who want "the look" even though they aren't the customers A&F is targeting or wanting.

The best way to gain exclusivity and be desirable is to BE exclusive. I said it before, and I'll say it again. Once BlackBerries are no longer easily obtainable, people will start clamoring for them. If they go back to the corporate-only market, I won't be surprised to hear news reports of people being robbed for their BlackBerries. Mark my words.

What?.........

The term "app", a shortened rendition of application, has pretty much usurped the more appropriate terms of "program" or "software." It's used so often that people don't even associate them in the same class even though they are one and the same.

[Tre Lawrence]

There seem to be two issues with this niche (that this layman sees). One, it assumes there are enough to keep the new iteration of BBRY afloat. Not impossible, but expectations will have to be tailored big time.

Two, it assumes other entities are going to leave this niche alone. I doubt that will happen.

[Alfredofid]

Begs one to ask, how many additional z10's would BlackBerry sell, if one app was available to the punter....say Netflix?

Posted via CB10

[Davidro1]

There seem to be two issues with this niche (that this layman sees). One, it assumes there are enough to keep the new iteration of BBRY afloat. Not impossible, but expectations will have to be tailored big time.

Two, it assumes other entities are going to leave this niche alone. I doubt that will happen.

But this discussion is idle talk by uninformed thumbbased amateur analysts.

What really happens next (e.g. In 2014) is not going to correspond to this thread's analysis.

[Tre Lawrence]

But this discussion is idle talk by uninformed thumbbased amateur analysts.

What really happens next (e.g. In 2014) is not going to correspond to this thread's analysis.

I won't disagree. Forum analysis is a euphemism for armchair management. That's what makes it fun.

[Tre Lawrence]

Begs one to ask, how many additional z10's would BlackBerry sell, if one app was available to the punter....say Netflix?

Posted via CB10

I think two or three apps could have helped; even a high-end business utility might have turned the tide.