[nyplaya610]

Here it is folks, if you are on sprint and want the blackberry z10 you better start looking else where.

Sprint Won

Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) will be the only major U.S. carrier not to offer BlackBerry’s new flagship Z10 touch-screen model when it debuts this month, opting instead to wait for the keyboard-equipped Q10.

Sprint, the third-largest U.S. mobile-phone service, plans to offer the Q10 later this year, said Mark Elliott, a spokesman for the Overland Park, Kansas-based carrier. That model has a physical keypad, in addition to a smaller touch screen.

“We aren’t saying there’s anything different about our customers,” Elliott said. “We think our customers will be happy with the qwerty keyboard and touch screen on the Q10.”

The move means Sprint won’t be selling the flagship model of BlackBerry’s new lineup, which is based on the revamped BB10 operating system. BlackBerry, based in Waterloo, Ontario, is trying to convince customers that a touch-screen device can work just as well as its traditional keyboard models. Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins said he expects its new touch devices to outsell keyboard models 3-to-1.

Shares of BlackBerry (BBRY), formerly called Research In Motion Ltd. (BB), fell 0.8 percent to $13.26 at the close in New York. Sprint’s stock was unchanged today at $5.80.

The other big U.S. carriers -- AT&T Inc. (T), Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA -- have created sign-up pages for customers interested in getting e-mail alerts about the availability of the BlackBerry Z10. Exact release dates haven’t been announced

Turnaround Plan
The phone, which has 4.2-inch (11-centimer) screen and more closely resembles the iPhone and Android devices, is the linchpin of BlackBerry’s comeback strategy. It was unveiled in January and has since gone on sale in the U.K., Canada and other countries. The U.S. release was delayed until this month because carriers needed longer to test the device, Heins has said.

The Q10, meanwhile, won’t be available until April at the earliest, BlackBerry has said. Verizon, the largest U.S. carrier, said last week that it wouldn’t offer the Q10 until mid-summer. Sprint’s Elliott declined to say when the carrier would begin offering the model.

To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Moritz in New York at smoritz6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net

[cuotfs]

Not exactly news.. this was announced on launch day by Sprint

[nyplaya610]

there was lots of hope sprint would get it. i think that put the nail to the coffin

[mrfreetruth]

This is old news. Word is sprint is committed to a huge Iphone5 purchase and know they can not even sell them. Looks like sprint will lose a lot of customers.

[kcdist]

Yeah....I guess when you're the third place carrier and you've already bet the house on the iPhone in the way of massive purchasing committments, the last thing you could support is a phone that would take away from your iPhone sales. It was reported today that Leap Wireless is deep under water with their iPhone committment, and Sprint could easily be in the same boat.

Interesting though.....this is also a gamble for Sprint. How many of their customers might be swayed by the Z10 campaign? They lost almost 500k subscribers in the past quarter just by themselves, even though they're the only major offering unlimited iPhone data......They have approx 50 Million Customers.....if only 1 in 200 left them for the Z10, that would equal 250,000 lost sales. Good luck to them...

[nyplaya610]

Yeah....I guess when you're the third place carrier and you've already bet the house on the iPhone in the way of massive purchasing committments, the last thing you could support is a phone that would take away from your iPhone sales. It was reported today that Leap Wireless is deep under water with their iPhone committment, and Sprint could easily be in the same boat.

Interesting though.....this is also a gamble for Sprint. How many of their customers might be swayed by the Z10 campaign? They lost almost 500k subscribers in the past quarter just by themselves, even though they're the only major offering unlimited iPhone data......They have approx 50 Million Customers.....if only 1 in 200 left them for the Z10, that would equal 250,000 lost sales. Good luck to them...

Very informative post, thanks.

[srmurray1]

Just saw this too. It's official I guess. So pissed and disappointed. I just want a damn choice.

[_BIG_]

well after 9 long years...might even be 10 now, from nextel to sprint..ill be moving my 2 accounts to someone else.

Ive sat off contract for a few years now and waited for these phones for 1.5yrs now? dealing with delays and drama...even broke down and bought the 9930 end of last year off contract not to lose my upgrade price on the new phones when they did drop. Now this.

I like Sprint alot, theyve been pretty good to me (minus a few major screw ups on their end) but to just flat out not offer the flagship of one of the major platforms to their customers is wrong. this isnt an apple deal where another provider has it locked under a Xyr lock down its just them not wanting to do it. It surprises me too where Sprint pushes so hard on the enterprise/business front.

Ill miss my unlimited data, any mobile, anytime and mostly my integrated google voice but I'm done.
I lost my nextel ptt because of sprint, lost even the hopes of hybrid spint/nextel phones, and now loosing out on the new blackberry that ive waited for and not even hopes of the qwerty model for even longer.

let the hunt for matching offers from other providers begin.

[cheech73]

Well this blows. I was really excited for this phone. But price and unlimited everything is keeping me from going elsewhere. I was set and hoping for the Z10 on sprint, but I guess I will have to wait and play with the Q10. Not a happy customer.

[JGuez]

Well this is actually good news for me. I was going to be super tempted to buy this phone instead of the Q10.

[jegs2]

Not exactly news.. this was announced on launch day by Sprint

Indeed, it's old news. For me, the QWERTY version is fine. If I wanted a full-touch phone, I'd get an iPhone or one of its countless wannabes and clones.

[_BIG_]

Well this blows. I was really excited for this phone. But price and unlimited everything is keeping me from going elsewhere. I was set and hoping for the Z10 on sprint, but I guess I will have to wait and play with the Q10. Not a happy customer.

Im just looking at Tmo now and @ $89.99 a month unlimited everything + 4g its actually $10 bucks cheaper than Sprint (wait $20 correct? dont they still slap on the $10 data consumption fee to the simply unlimited plans still). Add free wifi calling to that and I'm almost sold unless theres hidden catches or something somewhere I'm not noticing.

If you go prepaid with Tmo it looks like you can get the same deal for $70 a month, no contract, but also no discount on phones.

these actually dont look too bad to me...wonder what my employee discount would be with tmo.

[ksanfeliz]

I want the Q10 and im with sprint. They say no to wos and now they are going to sell it. They are going big not with iphone but galaxy fam and the htc evo/one. Those are their two power line.

[FrankPCS]

I really don't think the iPhone deal was a deciding factor for carrying the Z10. Otherwise why would they commit to the HTC One? If anything I'm guessing they really got burned with 9850 sales.

[Shanerredflag]

Sorry guys...i know what it's like to wait. If unhappy not much to do but vote with your wallet, sends the best message. Good luck.

Posted via CB10

[nyplaya610]

maybe Blackberry gave verizon exclusivity with the cdma version?

[dbollman423]

Well, Sprint can always change their minds. Can't say that that will happen soon.

Options:
1. Buy one full price and see if your carrier will give you a sim card; or
2. change carrier; or
3. Wait it out.

My 2 cents.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9930 using Tapatalk

[Flexin]

Yeah....I guess when you're the third place carrier and you've already bet the house on the iPhone in the way of massive purchasing committments, the last thing you could support is a phone that would take away from your iPhone sales. It was reported today that Leap Wireless is deep under water with their iPhone committment, and Sprint could easily be in the same boat.

Interesting though.....this is also a gamble for Sprint. How many of their customers might be swayed by the Z10 campaign? They lost almost 500k subscribers in the past quarter just by themselves, even though they're the only major offering unlimited iPhone data......They have approx 50 Million Customers.....if only 1 in 200 left them for the Z10, that would equal 250,000 lost sales. Good luck to them...

How big was that commitment?

Things like this could hurt Apple down the road imo.

James

[nyplaya610]

How big was that commitment?

Things like this could hurt Apple down the road imo.

James

i think 5mil a quarter

[southlander]

Two words. Iphone commitment.

Sent from my BlackBerry Torch 9850 using Tapatalk

[southlander]

Im just looking at Tmo now and @ $89.99 a month unlimited everything + 4g its actually $10 bucks cheaper than Sprint (wait $20 correct? dont they still slap on the $10 data consumption fee to the simply unlimited plans still). Add free wifi calling to that and I'm almost sold unless theres hidden catches or something somewhere I'm not noticing.

If you go prepaid with Tmo it looks like you can get the same deal for $70 a month, no contract, but also no discount on phones.

these actually dont look too bad to me...wonder what my employee discount would be with tmo.

Not sure in comparison to sprint. But if you compare the tmo coverage map to say verizon, and get outside of major metro areas it is quite shocking.

Sent from my BlackBerry Torch 9850 using Tapatalk

[_BIG_]

Not sure in comparison to sprint. But if you compare the tmo coverage map to say verizon, and get outside of major metro areas it is quite shocking.

Sent from my BlackBerry Torch 9850 using Tapatalk

ive surprisingly never had much problems with sprint everywhere from maine down to nj so far...although i dont do much traveling anymore outside of the metro Boston area Tmo's coverage i hear from people does make me a little nervous. does tmo now roam with att no charge since the buy out fell through?

id love to go att/verizon but between the prices and the data caps(which i honestly dont know if id hit or not untill i actually used each) makes those two look alot less appealing to me.
plus the wifi calling on Tmo would be a godsend to me while at work (my office is on the basement level of the building)

the thing i know im going to miss most is my integrated google voice...since the day it went live ive gone all in with GV on my original sprint number. office phone rings during work hours when dialing my cell, voicemail to text, free calls to canada, texting from my cell # from browser plugins etc, and inbound mms on gv and all covered by my plan no extra strings or minutes considered mobile/landline etc. im sure ill be able to re-adapt my GV usage to another provider but i have a feeling it wont be as easy and seamless as on sprint .

[cuotfs]

$20B

How big was that commitment?

Things like this could hurt Apple down the road imo.

James

[mzceetee]

Sprint just shot themselves,Never consider their Blackberry Customers by having choices and think of those who held on by not renewal by on month 2 month waiting for BB10 as myself before agreeing on another contract . Seeing every US carrier will carry BB10 by this month besides sprint,gave the green light Good bye along with their stupidity of not carrying Z10 yes they lose customers good luck with the iphone sales...

[RussBerry007]

sprint has mostly touchscreen devices, and is happy with samsung and apples noses up their butts.

sprint actually has it's own prepaid service that's not boost or virgin. I might buy one and do that.

who knows? it is what it is though....I want the Q10. They know not everyone wants the z.