[FF22]

I don't know... do you know?

(by the way, acording to Jonh Chen, they only need 5 million to break even)

The problem - Apple sells that the first week each new phone is released. Not over the life of the model.

[lift]

Well I guess since most people drive automatics we should just get rid of manual transmissions. Screw the people who prefer the control they give them since the majority have spoken.

I didn't mean that at all and you know it. There is a demand for PKB phones. A VERY small one. So small that most OEM's don't want to bother. And for your information, in the US, there are more and more car models coming out that no longer have manual transmissions as an option anymore. Companies are out there to make money. If companies feel there is little to no money to be made in a product, they don't make it. Simple as that. By the way, I always drove a stick until just a few years ago. Automatics are so much better now that they are even rated better gas mileage ratings over manuals now.

[BBerryPowerUser]

I just finally purchased a BB10. I mean like this week. I got a Q5. It's fine with me. It's not the "OMG" epiphany that some members here told me it would be. I like it, but it's not that amazing. Like the legacy BIS Berries, it works, and works well.

I'm still on a BB07. I love my 9900. It's my primary BUSINESS phone. I'll honestly stick with BIS until BBerry shuts down that network, then I'll transfer a BB10 device to my business. As it sits now, the 9900 is my business line, and my Q5 is my personal line. Life is good. I've been running my business on a BlackBerry BIS platform for a very long time. I like the platform. I can get stuff done quickly and efficiently. Call me a Dinosaur. Doesn't bother me at all. I sit on planes and open my Playbook and take my 9900 out of sleep mode and 6 out of 10 seat mates say something. Like, "Wow, you are STILL using a BlackBerry?" I always say the same thing. "Why not? It's productive and it works." Most business people say, "Yes, I had one. I sometimes miss the simplicity and the efficiency." Uh huh. I hear that. It is efficient and simplistic. No worries about 50 apps I have to play with. Just the basics for Business. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, email, and Text. Done and done. Although, I admit that I sometimes use Spotify on my 9900. And it works great. Thanks Spotify. And BlackBerry Bridge on BB07? Brilliant. It's a mission critical business tool for me.

I've decided that chasing the latest and greatest in Smartphones is like trying to gather Pixie Dust. You are chasing the Dragon's tail. No thanks. Every week it seems we have another ad pushing a new Smartphone at us end-users. No thanks. I've been down that rabbit hole. I had to have the iPhone 4s as soon as it came out because I just had to try SIRI. I had new Androids up to 4.4.2 because I wanted the latest and greatest Android. BlackBerry is the ONLY phone where I jumped on a platform and stayed with it for a decade. I'm guessing I got my first Curve in 2005, and I'm still using a 9900 today.

Whatever happens with BlackBerry is going to happen. It's and open market. Companies rise and fall all the time. I'll stick with BIS and BlackBerry until it's gone. Then I'll simply shift the focus to BB10 via the Q5 phones that I personally prefer over the Q10, and I'll be happy for another decade.

The thousands of dollars I'll save by calmly sticking with a fantastic and stable platform that works, and makes me more productive, I'll put into a slush fund and take a few trips to Europe. Beats putting the money into Samsung's and Apples pocket. I need the money more than they do.

[sonicpix]

Take a look at their decisions on phones.

Z10 - not bad but was competing with phones already out there and was late out of the gate.

Z30 - came out with bad specs.

Q10 - to keep fans but build issues

Q5 - ugly and cheap

Leap - cheap and weak specs

Passport - best phone out there for the few willing to accept it's size.

Perv - the surrender phone with the dumbest name.

All failed from lack of marketing while they sat of $3b in the bank. Failed attempts to bring out what people wanted and failed at being unique.

Posted via CB10

[anon(9353145)]

I've decided that chasing the latest and greatest in Smartphones is like trying to gather Pixie Dust. You are chasing the Dragon's tail. No thanks. Every week it seems we have another ad pushing a new Smartphone at us end-users. No thanks. I've been down that rabbit hole. I had to have the iPhone 4s as soon as it came out because I just had to try SIRI. I had new Androids up to 4.4.2 because I wanted the latest and greatest Android. BlackBerry is the ONLY phone where I jumped on a platform and stayed with it for a decade. I'm guessing I got my first Curve in 2005, and I'm still using a 9900 today.
...
The thousands of dollars I'll save by calmly sticking with a fantastic and stable platform that works, and makes me more productive, I'll put into a slush fund and take a few trips to Europe. Beats putting the money into Samsung's and Apples pocket. I need the money more than they do.

Ha, well said. I've been through many iterations of iPhone (3G, 4S, 5S, 6), and various Android phones in the past (Nexus 5 is my latest mobile device).

Yet the Passport, with its AWFUL app ecosystem, is still my daily driver and I love it to this day.

I'm very curious about the Slider, but I don't know that I'd trade it for what I already have in my hands. Like you said, chasing the latest and greatest is a never ending quest. My poor iPhone 6 lacks the latest RAM (1GB vs 2GB) and no Force Touch, sigh. And let's face it - sooner or later - Apple is going to introduce stereo audio to the iPhone lineup (one can only hope). And it will be the best iPhone ever, lol.

Same with Android. It's never ending. Time to consider jumping off the merry go round.

[2gwm]

Well is Blackberry is truly going to Android, I am afraid I will have to go with a more proven Android brand such as Samsung or HTC instead of Blackberry trying to figure out their marketing. I have always been a Blackberry cell phone user and I will continue to use my Passport, Z30 and Classic until they crash and burn....then move on...

Sorry to see an era send but Chen just is not the right person to market anything! His intro of the new Priv was clumsy, unprofessional and totally lacking any enthusiasm in talking about his company's new product.... so sad.....

[Allanon89]

Well is Blackberry is truly going to Android, I am afraid I will have to go with a more proven Android brand such as Samsung or HTC instead of Blackberry trying to figure out their marketing.

All the more so now that we know that BB Android isn't more secure than Samsung Android with KNOX.

[Notna Nosyel]

I saw the writing on the wall and have read it. There's nothing to be concerned about it. It's only a friggin' graffiti!

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[Asvertus]

Well I guess since most people drive automatics.
Posted via CB10

Not in Europe

Posted via my Z30 (10.3.2.2639)

[Superfly_FR]

It wasn't so long ago that BBRY users were crowing about what a superior VKB BB10 had versus other platforms. It seems only now, in the desperate desire to justify the blind lob of a failing hardware manufacturer, that PKBs are not just good but something that will take the market by storm. We'll see in a few months.

Please note Priv will offer both.

[FalkirkEagle]

The real problem lies in the fact that Android and iOS are too deeply entrenched in the marketplace, and it's too late for BlackBerry to be anything but a niche player. The average consumer sees Android and iOS as the only choices out there, and is barely aware that BlackBerry exists. If they do have more than superficial awareness, then they tend to see BlackBerry phones as something for business people only and not a consumer thing.

That's a very difficult perception to overcome, because the average consumer is not concerned with having a super-stable OS, nor does the excellent HUB communications management tool mean much to them. They tend to want apps, apps and more apps, and go for whatever is considered to be most hip at the time. They don't care much for BlackBerry's business-centric cosmetics, either, as 'bling' is where it's at for them.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

The real problem lies in the fact that Android and iOS are too deeply entrenched in the marketplace, and it's too late for BlackBerry to be anything but a niche player. The average consumer sees Android and iOS as the only choices out there, and is barely aware that BlackBerry exists. If they do have more than superficial awareness, then they tend to see BlackBerry phones as something for business people only and not a consumer thing.

That's a very difficult perception to overcome, because the average consumer is not concerned with having a super-stable OS, nor does the excellent HUB communications management tool mean much to them. They tend to want apps, apps and more apps, and go for whatever is considered to be most hip at the time. They don't care much for BlackBerry's business-centric cosmetics, either, as 'bling' is where it's at for them.

Old argument when BlackBerry was trying to be the 3rd, 4th, 5th, or 6th mobile platform.

We now are part of the Android majority.... the question now is can BlackBerry compete with all those other Android OEMs, and how important is the "BlackBerry Keyboard".

[southlander]

What if they can't secure Android as well as BB10? Would there be enough Enterprise customers to drive more expensive BB10 devices?

I would think there is actually a bigger market for well-secured Android phones in the enterprise than for BB10. And when I say well-secured I mean "secure enough", not bulletproof. So if the Priv is found to be secure enough, I think BB is thinking there is an unfilled market need for that. For folks that want to buy Android for their employees, AND want the BlackBerry name on it for re-assurance. Surely BlackBerry is thinking they can bundle the phones with BES 12, etc.

[wilber1]

Take a look at their decisions on phones.

Z10 - not bad but was competing with phones already out there and was late out of the gate.

Z30 - came out with bad specs.

Q10 - to keep fans but build issues

Q5 - ugly and cheap

Leap - cheap and weak specs

Passport - best phone out there for the few willing to accept it's size.

Perv - the surrender phone with the dumbest name.

All failed from lack of marketing while they sat of $3b in the bank. Failed attempts to bring out what people wanted and failed at being unique.

Posted via CB10

And Classic --People did ask for a follow up to 9900 and I think they did a decent job with it even thou under specked .

[skibnik]

Take a look at their decisions on phones.

Z10 - not bad but was competing with phones already out there and was late out of the gate.

Z30 - came out with bad specs.

Q10 - to keep fans but build issues

Q5 - ugly and cheap

Leap - cheap and weak specs

Passport - best phone out there for the few willing to accept it's size.

Perv - the surrender phone with the dumbest name.

All failed from lack of marketing while they sat of $3b in the bank. Failed attempts to bring out what people wanted and failed at being unique.

Posted via CB10

All failed because of lack of apps plain and simple. You can spend a billion dollars marketing a product but if its missing a key ingredient no one will purchase it.

[wincyUt]

You know what happens when a new android phone is released? The sites make a table and compare specs across all devices...can Blackberry compete with that?

We shall soon find out what the specs are. One shouldn't compare what they don't know, right?

[theboogeyman]

I would think there is actually a bigger market for well-secured Android phones in the enterprise than for BB10. And when I say well-secured I mean "secure enough", not bulletproof. So if the Priv is found to be secure enough, I think BB is thinking there is an unfilled market need for that. For folks that want to buy Android for their employees, AND want the BlackBerry name on it for re-assurance. Surely BlackBerry is thinking they can bundle the phones with BES 12, etc.

Chen admitted in recode interview that th Priv is as secure as Knox and less secure than the Blackphone

[theboogeyman]

All failed because of lack of apps plain and simple. You can spend a billion dollars marketing a product but if its missing a key ingredient no one will purchase it.

and the bad quality hardware..double typing, screen lifting, defective units, reboots

[Tim Heard]

I'd buy the Priv if they'd release a BB10 version as well.
I'm not interested in an Android phone.
I *would* buy the Priv in a heartbeat if it were a Windows phone.

Posted via CB10

[crackberry_geek]

That fact that BB is still here and even thriving outside the phone hardware business proves Chen is a highly intelligent business man, that's obvious. BB's failures started with the original group being a one trick pony and not being able to innovate and stay viable. Chen will keep BB alive and have growth at least in the other aspects of it wide business range of products. PS: The Priv has the best PKB of any smart phone, plus you get the choice of having everything with VKB as well ,but saddly no BBOS10.

Thriving? Did you really use thriving in the same sentence as BlackBerry?

Whatever kool-aid you're drinking must be quite sumthin!

Posted via CB10

[roleli]

Marketing and pricing has been a big problem. You can't have a OS radically different and not market it properly.

[roleli]

Point taken. There is recent research that pointed to the fact that consumers end up using at best 3 apps regularly. Once the key apps are available the impact of that issue is soften. The other side is that BB10 has some other marketing points that the public were never and still are not being made aware of. You also have to market your strengths and your positive stand out differences. Recently someone was selling a Q10, he got it and believed it was useless. When I began to show him the features, the efficiency of the hub, BB Blend, the gestures, read to me built in browser (with one of the recent OS update) , it was just wow, wow, I never knew that.

[6stringriffs]

Well I'm not part of that survey!

I use a minimum of 6 apps every single day.... Map (an accurate one mind you), pdf, weather, NFL, Chicago tribune, Kindle, + tech news sites. Let's not even get started on Facebook. Android apps serve me way, way better than any BB10 app unfortunately .

[southlander]

Chen admitted in recode interview that th Priv is as secure as Knox and less secure than the Blackphone

BlackBerry is doing poorly but who the heck wants a Blackphone?

[BBerryPowerUser]

The Smartphone market is sometimes an enigma to me.

iOS has not upgraded their BASIC platform of plastering icons on screens since the original iPhone, yet thousands stand in lines to get the newest model that is basically a hardware upgrade. I still have a 4s and it runs the same iOS as the newest iPhone 6s, albeit slower since I only have a dual core processor.

Android keeps plugging away. Their ecosystem is much more open and customizable than iOS, and you can add SD cards and new batteries when you need to. Plus, I like the hardware entrenched MENU, BACK and HOME buttons, VS iOS's ONE BIG BUTTON that has me constantly searching for back and menu on the screens for each app. Drives me crazy at times.

Windows Phone was the biggest surprise to me. I love the live times and the general ecosystem. When it launched and Microsoft was plastering adds on network TV, I thought that within 3 years Windows Phone would be the dominant player in the Smartphone market. And Cortana? Superb. I believe it is vastly superior to Siri. So it should be the #1 phone in the market, right?
Nope.
I had a Windows Phone for a couple of years, and the lack of Apps was a big issue. And many apps are not "official" but 3rd party work-arounds. I had to bail out. If I don't have apps, then I'd rather have a Blackberry.

If Microsoft could not bend the Smartphone market, I don't know how BlackBerry expects to. Honestly. Just ask HTC how they did trying to crack the market. Instead, they cracked their company into Bankruptcy.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out in 3 or 4 years time.