[Brewer James]

It's not OS 7 or BB10, it's the phones, specifically the prices. Is a Q5 really worth $350 unlocked? Is a Z10 worth $299 unlocked. I don't and Blackberry shouldn't think so either, especially when they have so much overstock. What Blackberry needs is to value those phones at $199, I know that's not what Blackberry wants to hear but that's what they need to do. The biggest problem facing Blackberry is perception and the only way a company can combat that is to get the devices into the hands of consumers and a $350 Q5 isn't going to accomplish that. They don't have to make a sub $99 device but they do need a quality device that is $200 or less.

[santhoshmanikandan]

You are correct. When z10 was sellling for 43000INR($710) no one bought it. When its price was reduced to 18000INR($299) it went out of stock in hours. That should be the plan of Blackberry. Phone below $250 to capture the market.

[co4nd]

How much does it cost to make? They can't give their phones away. What phones out there are 200 off contract?

[wasabiGT]

It's not OS 7 or BB10, it's the phones, specifically the prices. Is a Q5 really worth $350 unlocked? Is a Z10 worth $299 unlocked. I don't and Blackberry shouldn't think so either, especially when they have so much overstock. What Blackberry needs is to value those phones at $199, I know that's not what Blackberry wants to hear but that's what they need to do. The biggest problem facing Blackberry is perception and the only way a company can combat that is to get the devices into the hands of consumers and a $350 Q5 isn't going to accomplish that. They don't have to make a sub $99 device but they do need a quality device that is $200 or less.

And that is why you are not a CEO or a business owner

Posted via CB10

[colectionarul]

It's not OS 7 or BB10, it's the phones, specifically the prices. Is a Q5 really worth $350 unlocked? Is a Z10 worth $299 unlocked. I don't and Blackberry shouldn't think so either, especially when they have so much overstock. What Blackberry needs is to value those phones at $199, I know that's not what Blackberry wants to hear but that's what they need to do. The biggest problem facing Blackberry is perception and the only way a company can combat that is to get the devices into the hands of consumers and a $350 Q5 isn't going to accomplish that. They don't have to make a sub $99 device but they do need a quality device that is $200 or less.

You may have a point here, in Romania the Q5 sells from 350$ to 480$, I was lucky to buy it at 250$. For example I saw a lot of people using the Curve 9320 a phone that sells for 180$ or less, most of them are not even Blackberry fans, they just wanted a qwerty phone with psychical keyboard and they consider Blackberry more reliable that Nokia Asha or Samsung Ch@t.

[CHIP72]

The problem behind the problem is that BB10 is too resource-intensive (for example, 2 GB of RAM minimum requirement!?!), which makes it difficult for Blackberry to price BB10 devices, particularly "budget" devices, at lower costs.

The other problem with BB10 specifically is that it was released way, way, too late. If Blackberry wanted to remain a major competitor in the smartphone segment, they preferably needed to release the first BB10 devices in fall 2010 and absolutely no later than fall 2011. BB10 smartphones are fine devices, but most people gave up on Blackberry long before they were released, and IMO BB10 smartphones aren't dramatically better than the competition.

[birdman_38]

They don't have to make a sub $99 device but they do need a quality device that is $200 or less.

I disagree. They should make a sub $99 device to complete with the likes of Huawei and LG in the low end prepaid market.

[badiyee]

I disagree. They should make a sub $99 device to complete with the likes of Huawei and LG in the low end prepaid market.

I think BlackBerry is already trying to address that with the z3,

but..

since you're on that, what would you expect fits the bill of a USD99 device that has BlackBerry 10 on it?

[igor10000]

There is a difference between a low-end BB10 phone and a low-end Android phone, the latter being a joke. I just seen a phone my non-tech savvy friend got from t-mobile and immediately understood the difference. Slow and laggy, that is low-end Android. While my "low-end" Z10 is not.

Posted via CB10

[bakron1]

I agree that a 199.00 z10 and the z3 at the same price, it should sell real well. If it means you have to have FoxComm build both units to reduce the manufacturing cost, then so be it.

You need to get OS10 devices into the consumers hands with new updates and most of the kinks have been worked out. I believe once the user gets the device into their hands and start using BlackBerry OS10, the word will spread like wildfire. A great OS with a great product price, what more can you ask for.

Send from my z30 on T Mobile USA (10.2.1.2160)

[TgeekB]

I agree that a 199.00 z10 and the z3 at the same price, it should sell real well. If it means you have to have FoxComm build both units to reduce the manufacturing cost, then so be it.

You need to get OS10 devices into the consumers hands with new updates and most of the kinks have been worked out. I believe once the user gets the device into their hands and start using BlackBerry OS10, the word will spread like wildfire. A great OS with a great product price, what more can you ask for.

Send from my z30 on T Mobile USA (10.2.1.2160)

Why will they leave the ecosystems that already work for them though?

Posted via my Nexus 10.

[bakron1]

Who said anything about leaving the ecosystem behind? I say move the legacy folks from OS7 into OS10 by making the newer OS10 devices affordable. Especially in the developing countries.

Once you have the current OS10 user base increased, the app ecosystem will improve along with it. Developers will want to create newer apps because now you will have a user base to support it.

Most of the older legacy users say the cost of the OS10 devices where too high, the z3 at less then 200 dollars should be able to get them to convert to OS10. Just the way I see it.

Send from my z30 on T Mobile USA (10.2.1.2160)

[AnimalPak200]

The problem behind the problem is that BB10 is too resource-intensive (for example, 2 GB of RAM minimum requirement!?!), which makes it difficult for Blackberry to price BB10 devices, particularly "budget" devices, at lower costs.

The other problem with BB10 specifically is that it was released way, way, too late. If Blackberry wanted to remain a major competitor in the smartphone segment, they preferably needed to release the first BB10 devices in fall 2010 and absolutely no later than fall 2011. BB10 smartphones are fine devices, but most people gave up on Blackberry long before they were released, and IMO BB10 smartphones aren't dramatically better than the competition.

The resources required by BB10 are not that much more expensive... IF you have the scale to command lower component prices. BlackBerry doesn't have the scale to get the cheapest component prices anymore. This is why offloading the Z3 to Foxconn was necessary, as they can and will get much cheaper components.

I think they do understand that they can't charge premium prices without a premium offering, but they were moving from a model in which they used to get monthly service fees to one in which their upfront hardware revenue was all they would get. Obviously they were a bit too greedy because it was a huge risk and they thought too highly of their brand attractiveness.

Hopefully the Z3 offers a good enough BB10 experience, because it will sell quite well at those low prices. It would be devastating if all those sales would serve only to disseminate a bad BB10 experience...

Posted via CB10

[TgeekB]

Who said anything about leaving the ecosystem behind? I say move the legacy folks from OS7 into OS10 by making the newer OS10 devices affordable. Especially in the developing countries.

Once you have the current OS10 user base increased, the app ecosystem will improve along with it. Developers will want to create newer apps because now you will have a user base to support it.

Most of the older legacy users say the cost of the OS10 devices where too high, the z3 at less then 200 dollars should be able to get them to convert to OS10. Just the way I see it.

Send from my z30 on T Mobile USA (10.2.1.2160)

So you are only talking about legacy users moving to BB10, not users of other platforms?

Posted via my Nexus 10.

[igor10000]

My friends started to consider Z10 inky after the carriers discounted the price to 250 euro off-contract. Yes, BlackBerry need to get the pricing right. Hopefully the Z3 will accomplish.

Posted via CB10

[itzJustMeh]

Z10 is worth more then 300$. But lower price would help them sell more, that's it.

[donnation]

There is a difference between a low-end BB10 phone and a low-end Android phone, the latter being a joke. I just seen a phone my non-tech savvy friend got from t-mobile and immediately understood the difference. Slow and laggy, that is low-end Android. While my "low-end" Z10 is not.

Posted via CB10

Your low end Z10 was a flagship device that became low end because it didn't sell. Low end Android phones come with bottom of the barrel specs that are going to of course lag and not work very well. But these buyers are mostly interested in messaging and not anything else. If BB wants to survive they need a phone to compete in this market which will be the Z3 is it's priced right.