[RH1Pearl]

hardware sales are low SIMPLY because the BBOS units are completely phased out. There are no more in the channel to appease the laggards that refuse to upgrade because they proclaim the like it the way it is ... and that they love BlackBerry yet cannot see that no upgrading is hurting both the company and their choices at plans with their carriers.

Passport has HELPED BB this quarter as it raised the profit per unit sold! We need more HIGH END devices that increase revenues and profits for BB in the hardware revenue consisting up to 42% overall this quarter alone! This is WHY BB beat analysts by 8 cents US per share!

Z10 refresh has occured twice now: Z3 and now the LEAP = they ALL suck ... the Z10 was great in its day but it's not worth appeasing to this market segment:
- clearly better options from Android/iOS devices
- This segment does NOT buy into their accessories as much as high end market.

High Passport sales this past quarter is not surprising as new models tend to perform very well at launch as initial demand is usually from hard-core loyal users IMO. Look at the online sales at Amazon when Passport first launched. It's kind of like BBM when it first launched but cooled thereafter. Just a thought as the year progresses and more sales numbers come in the 2nd to 3rd quarters of Passport and Classic.

[Mr Mozi]

All I want is a Leap with Passport's specs! WooHoo!!

[Ulferini Schusterotti]

Blackberry will win as soon as Android and iOS are getting serious bloat and security and privacy issues. It's the same with facebook. It's getting more and more useless features and people start to walk away from it. The same will happen to Android and iOS. Also people will slowly realize (as soon as the slider is released) that having a full touch device AND a keyboard is the best combination. All these procedures will take very long time I think, maybe about 5 years and I hope BlackBerry will still be there.

I mean, I never had a BlackBerry before but switched from Android to the Q10 and now to the Classic and will definitely buy the Slider once it's been released. I am sure there are many people like me who will support BlackBerry but ONLY because they really make outstanding devices and great software.

If Motorola would release the Droid 5, well, I might switch back to Android although I'd really miss the Hub then... ^^

Posted via CB10

[conkybubs]

It's been 2 years since my family got our Z10' s and shortly after that got a lot of friends to upgrade from bbos to bb10. So the problem is, everyone wants their free upgrade with a new phone plan that's bring dangled by the carriers and the only option for BlackBerry that they have is a Classic or z30.

None want pkb, and most don't want something as big as the Z30 so they really have no option at this point. Not everyone wants to carry around a mini flat screen TV! They just want a comfortable light all touch device just like the z10 size. Need a new z10 now to at least have something for the early all touch adopters to upgrade to. Then get a new z30 out in the not too distant future since there's still stock and it's still a great device.

Posted via Z30 on CB10.

[anon3700711]

Hardware isn't selling because the software is incomplete and lacks the app eco-system. The android apps drain battery.

[CharlieV]

I think some folks aren't paying attention to what Chen is saying. Software and services, not hardware, are the future of BlackBerry. The catch is that you have to keep selling the hardware for there to be demand for the software and services. Back when BIS was built into each device, the phones were revenue generators. Now, once the device is sold, BlackBerry makes zero dollars off of it except to the extent that it generates the need for a license or you buy BBM stickers, a warranty, or maybe an app. That's it. The newest and most impressive features, like PGP integration and BlackBerry Protected, aren't even available to you unless you have a BES and licenses.

Straight consumer sales of blackberry devices are just life support for the real business now.

Specs ARE important to drive those consumer sales and, but to a lesser extent, the real device sales target: enterprise and government. Further, specs ARE important as long as android apps are in the mix (a consumer-side concern) because higher specs are needed to make the android apps work right, as are nice screens and big batteries. But if you think a brighter screen or a bigger battery or whatnot is important for the next generation of your favorite device, you need to be making that suggestion from a a .gov or @ibm.com email address, not a gmail.com or yahoo.com address.

Because of the new revenue model, merely buying a device doesn't give you the same vote you used to have.



Posted via CB 10 on my Passport SQW100-1 sporting 10.3.1.2582

[Vorkosigan]

As hard as it is for the full touch and high spec crowd to believe, there are ppl out there who want their BlackBerry to have a physical keyboard and a trackpad. I know. Blew me away too. But in my office I have set up more BlackBerry Classics and fielded more questions about the Classic than I have for any of the other BB10 phones combined.

I have a few people switching from Apple and android. They are happy BlackBerry is finally making a phone that gives them everything they want. These people showed zero interest in the Z10 and the Z30. They liked the idea of the passport but it was too big. Q10 was too small and lacked a trackpad.

They have no idea of specs. If you ask them which OS they were running on an Android or Apple phone you'd get a 'deer caught in the headlights' blank look. They haven't got a clue. They want a phone that works, that's easy to use, that they can email, text and has a GPS. That's it.



Someone on one of the front page articles I think summed it up best. BlackBerry isn't going to play the spec war. Ppl who will jump ship for specs will jump ship from anywhere. Ppl who want a BlackBerry aren't usually looking for specs. They are looking for BlackBerry and I think BlackBerry has finally figured out, with the Classic and the Passport and the upcoming slider, and the Leap, how to try and satisfy the most BlackBerry diehards they can. Sadly for those who want high spec'd full touch, that doesn't seem to be an area they are planning on trying to compete.

Posted via CB10

[bakron1]

Blackberry will win as soon as Android and iOS are getting serious bloat and security and privacy issues. It's the same with facebook. It's getting more and more useless features and people start to walk away from it. The same will happen to Android and iOS. Also people will slowly realize (as soon as the slider is released) that having a full touch device AND a keyboard is the best combination. All these procedures will take very long time I think, maybe about 5 years and I hope BlackBerry will still be there.

I mean, I never had a BlackBerry before but switched from Android to the Q10 and now to the Classic and will definitely buy the Slider once it's been released. I am sure there are many people like me who will support BlackBerry but ONLY because they really make outstanding devices and great software.

If Motorola would release the Droid 5, well, I might switch back to Android although I'd really miss the Hub then... ^^

Posted via CB10

I honestly believe security is not as big as issue as one might think, Apple has encryption built into their OS and most corporate IT folks I have talked to tell me they feel the security measures they use with Android and IOS devices running on their networks is just fine. I am in the automotive sector and GM is now using Android and Ford with IOS and talking to the folks who use the devices as their daily driver tell me they have't had any major security issues or concerns.

I am hoping Mr Chen partners Blackberry with a major player like Samsung and markets a consumer device running Android as the primary OS and Blackberry OS10 and security features embedded into the front end, now you would have a device that would be unique and would appeal to the end user who might not have been willing to change before. You would have full access to Google play services and the app store and the great features of OS10 like the Hub, Peak and so on.

Plus, you would now have the backing of a major player like Samsung and the consumer and corporate folks would not have the concerns about long term stability and device support they have at the moment, Just my two cents.

[birdman_38]

I am hoping Mr Chen partners Blackberry with a major player like Samsung and markets a consumer device running Android as the primary OS and Blackberry OS10 and security features embedded into the front end, now you would have a device that would be unique and would appeal to the end user who might not have been willing to change before. You would have full access to Google play services and the app store and the great features of OS10 like the Hub, Peak and so on.

This is definitely not unattainable... a BlackBerry with the same security delivered to Android through BES 12, and OS features that will be delivered to Android through the BlackBerry Experience.

[lnichols]

Wow and with those specs and the prices you are saying they should be, BlackBerry will then be operating at a loss for each device made.

Specs aren't everything. Especially for BB10. Specs are all for Android and iOS to one up each other while raping the consumer for a miniscule upgrade from the device they already have.

BlackBerry devices aren't selling not because of the device itself, but because of the history associated with the name BlackBerry and BBOS7.



Posted via CB10

BS! I see a huge difference in a jump from the the Z10 to Z30 in performance and the device not running hot. BB10 also requires 2 GB of RAM, higher than the others. Passport owners surely wouldn't give up their Qualcomm 80X. BlackBerry is just using up old hardware and the OS development will be slowed to make sure it runs on two year old hardware while the competition is improving the OS and feature to take advantage of new SOC features, BlackBerry is engineering OS and features to still run on a Z10 SOC!

Posted via CB10

[ADGrant]

Blackberry will win as soon as Android and iOS are getting serious bloat and security and privacy issues. It's the same with facebook. It's getting more and more useless features and people start to walk away from it. The same will happen to Android and iOS. Also people will slowly realize (as soon as the slider is released) that having a full touch device AND a keyboard is the best combination. All these procedures will take very long time I think, maybe about 5 years and I hope BlackBerry will still be there.

I mean, I never had a BlackBerry before but switched from Android to the Q10 and now to the Classic and will definitely buy the Slider once it's been released. I am sure there are many people like me who will support BlackBerry but ONLY because they really make outstanding devices and great software.

If Motorola would release the Droid 5, well, I might switch back to Android although I'd really miss the Hub then... ^^

Posted via CB10

You think a slider phone is the answer. BB tried that before with the Torch. I don't remember that being a great success.

[birdman_38]

You think a slider phone is the answer. BB tried that before with the Torch. I don't remember that being a great success.

It sold fairly well, but RIM still had pretty good market positioning at the time.

[ADGrant]

That is without doubt the best post I've ever read on this forum. Thank you, I couldn't have said it any better myself. That's exactly why I use a BlackBerry, to be an individual and not a sheep!

I'm close to an upgrade for my Z10 but can't find a good reason to change it as it works perfectly fine.

Z10STL100-2/10.2.1.3175

Really? I have seen many similar posts that suggest that BB is failing because human civilization is collapsing.

[TgeekB]

That is without doubt the best post I've ever read on this forum. Thank you, I couldn't have said it any better myself. That's exactly why I use a BlackBerry, to be an individual and not a sheep!

I'm close to an upgrade for my Z10 but can't find a good reason to change it as it works perfectly fine.

Z10STL100-2/10.2.1.3175

So in other words put the blame on others instead of Blackberry?

Be classically hip with the BlackBerry Classic

[RubberChicken76]

BlackBerry's stubborn and idiotic refusal to advertise is the primary reason for their hardware failing.

If that were true, why was it failing when they did spend a ton on advertising? To me it's simple - it's not how much they spend on ads, not that they don't have a high end touch screen, not that they don't have a 16 core processor, it's not BlackBerry 10 glitches. It's two very simple things:

1. Lack of apps
2. Fear of BlackBerry not being around or being a hardware manufacturer

They could spend $3 billion advertising and all they'd end up with are massive losses. Consumers and businesses would go "where is app a,b and c?"

[BigAl_BB9900]

Blackberry will win as soon as Android and iOS are getting serious bloat and security and privacy issues.......

I went to a Mobile Security conference (invitation only) in the states in April 2013 when RIM/BlackBerry was looking very fragile as a business - the two primary speakers were from US Federal Government (one FBI and one from some Federal IT & Communications Dept).

Both of the primary speakers were very worried that BlackBerry might go out of business (and/or be purchased by a foreign company that was not part of a close US ally - eg not US, Canada, UK, NZ, Australia) and that the primary speakers would then be unable to use a smartphone for most of their work emails and have to carry a laptop instead (the FBI guy stated that on a non-BlackBerry smartphone, the only work emails he would be allowed to receive would be at the level of "the coffee machine being fixed") - their concern was that there was no smartphone alternative to BlackBerry for their needs.

Both primary speakers agreed (this was April 2013) that the best thing that could happen to BlackBerry would be a catastrophic security breach with Android and/or iOS..... as this would then massively boost BlackBerry sales and make BlackBerry financially viable again.

Both primary speakers also agreed that it was a damn shame that Apple didn't develop iOS so that it could get the same level of FIPS 140-2 certification that BlackBerry devices had (as then there would be a financially strong US corporate alternative to failing BlackBerry....). Interestingly, when challenged that surely iOS was secure enough, both speakers were emphatic that though iOS was massively more secure than Android, it was still nowhere near enough secure to get FIPS 140-2.... though they wouldn't tell us all the reasons why!

In summary, I still believe that for BlackBerry to have a long-term viable Hardware Business, we need a catastrophic security breach with Android and/or iOS - if this catastrophic (and well publicised!) security breach does not happen, I believe that BlackBerry will become a niche Security Software Company instead, licensing code to be put on other companies' smartphones, as well as being the developers of BES-type products.

I don't expect everybody (many people?) to agree with my opinion, but it's my two-pennorth thrown into the mix!

[Note: at the Mobile Security conference I was on the 'management track' not the 'techie track' so I can't answer, or remember, any of the technical stuff]

[RubberChicken76]

You think a slider phone is the answer. BB tried that before with the Torch. I don't remember that being a great success.

The first Torch sold millions, recalling a video with Andrew Bocking. It was also the first device with a Webkit browser and had a big push by both BlackBerry and AT&T.

The second one seemed to come and go though. 9900 seemed to just suck all the oxygen out of the room for any of the other BlackBerry 7 devices. It sold well, the rest seemed not to.

[Plazmic Flame]

Lots of good points but it seems like we've been saying this for years, all the little things that BlackBerry should've/should do and it's mind boggling how they just miss the mark each and every time. My biggest pain point is battery capacity/life. I think every device should have great battery life, not just the Z30 or the Passport. It's my main concern with getting a Classic which is the only BB device I want right now, people keep recommending the Passport but I don't like the keyboard setup.

[Bbnivende]

It's been 2 years since my family got our Z10' s and shortly after that got a lot of friends to upgrade from bbos to bb10. So the problem is, everyone wants their free upgrade with a new phone plan that's bring dangled by the carriers and the only option for BlackBerry that they have is a Classic or z30.

None want pkb, and most don't want something as big as the Z30 so they really have no option at this point. Not everyone wants to carry around a mini flat screen TV! They just want a comfortable light all touch device just like the z10 size. Need a new z10 now to at least have something for the early all touch adopters to upgrade to. Then get a new z30 out in the not too distant future since there's still stock and it's still a great device.

Posted via Z30 on CB10.

The 5 inch screen size really is the new standard size hence the Leap. I would love to see a bigger screen in the same body size as the Z10. Not happening though because BlackBerry does not have the resources.

I wonder why Foxconn does not make BB10 versions of their Infocus line of phones for BlackBerry.

Posted via CB10

[birdman_38]

It's two very simple things:

1. Lack of apps
2. Fear of BlackBerry not being around or being a hardware manufacturer

They could spend $3 billion advertising and all they'd end up with are massive losses. Consumers and businesses would go "where is app a,b and c?"

It's the chicken and the egg, really. Enterprise is probably saying that too.

[craftyLists]

Slider is a good idea, I hope it won't be as thick as torch.

[birdman_38]

Both primary speakers agreed (this was April 2013) that the best thing that could happen to BlackBerry would be a catastrophic security breach with Android and/or iOS..... as this would then massively boost BlackBerry sales and make BlackBerry financially viable again.

Apple delivers patches for security vulnerabilities to the end user quicker (and more efficiently) than BlackBerry does.

I really don't wish a security catastrophe upon anybody. That's not the way to grow business.

[Bbnivende]

Lots of good points but it seems like we've been saying this for years, all the little things that BlackBerry should've/should do and it's mind boggling how they just miss the mark each and every time. My biggest pain point is battery capacity/life. I think every device should have great battery life, not just the Z30 or the Passport. It's my main concern with getting a Classic which is the only BB device I want right now, people keep recommending the Passport but I don't like the keyboard setup.

Yes, the Classic's battery life is just average and yet the device is quite heavy. This is probably the one device that could have used a removable battery.

Posted via CB10

[cathulu15]

Surely BlackBerry can issue a phone working with Foxconn or others for BlackBerry Z30 and Z10 users to upgrade. A made for fan device with managed build volumes as mentioned earlier. Chen just needs to make money, volume is less important. Find a partner and make it happen! Also give it the best camera so it is differentiated in the consumer market and fans will be happy.

Posted via CB10

[dbmalloy]

All users looking for better hardware selection really should move to Android.. If you think about it... Apple releases 2 phones a year... BB 3 or 4 maybe and WP the same. The only market where choice prevails is Android... Lots of vendors with high end shiny smartphones.. want cheap.. want mid range.. want high end flagship... Android is where you need to be... Not an issue of brand name, it is an issue of numbers... that being said... most Android vendors are losing their shirts still.... so why BB would want to take a chance of more hardware is beyond me. The elusive flagship may appeal to the top tier but doubt they would ever make money on it with how bad BB brand is damaged... once damaged almost impossible to return the shine... social media makes sure of it...