[lorax1284]

I think a $150 off-contract BB10 device would jumpstart BB10 market penetration (duh!)... but what would that device be?

I wager a 1 GHz CPU would be the max... dual core... it has been established that 2 gigabytes of RAM would be required.

I figure it would have to be limited in RAM: 8 Gig max?

It would have to be 4G at least, but maybe not LTE?

Is it even possible to build a phone for $150 off contract with a 1280 x 720 screen of any quality?

Given that the Q5 is actually a pretty well-equipped device but retails at $300 off contract... what would a BB10 device have to be to hit the $150 off contract mark, slightly higher than the Nokia Lumia 520?

Should BlackBerry just cut to the chase and subsidize the Q5 so it can sell for $150 off contract just to build market share? For every million devices they sell, that would cost them $100 million. Would that be a good way to gain market share for BB10? Sell the first 5 million Q5s for $150 until the time where the cost of components of the Q5 are reduced, or economies of scale kick in.

I guess I'm just thinking "out loud" here... but what the Lumia 520 is doing for Windows Phone should be easy for BlackBerry to replicate for BB10, but the Lumia 520's specs are relatively modest, especially w.r.t. the 800 x 480 screen and no LTE support... BlackBerry could save a lot of money on marketing if they put out the Q5 for $150 off contract, $0 on 1 year contract... too bad they don't have their own stores where they could sign people up to contracts and the commission from the contract would supplement any hit they take on the device subsidy.

The time is now for BlackBerry to subsidize market share gains, hit that critical mass that brings key app developers on board.... is the ship loaded and ready to sail? Is BB going to miss the boat?

[ajst222]

I think there is a chance it could be done. Dual core 1GHz processor, 2GB RAM, 5MP camera (at max), 4GB-8GB storage. I know BlackBerry wanted to stick with the same screen resolutions but maybe they would have to give it a lower resolution screen in order to save money.

I don't think it would be smart for BlackBerry to lose money on Q5s just to gain market share.

[bluetroll]

I don't think BlackBerry wants to compete in that segment.

There's no money to be made. The margins are too cut throat.

Posted via CB10

[ajst222]

I don't think BlackBerry wants to compete in that segment.

There's no money to be made. The margins are too cut throat.

Posted via CB10

While the margins are low, low end phones do sell. Not necessarily in the USA, but in Europe and also emerging markets. If BlackBerry were to release an ultra low end phone, it would be smart for them not to release it in the USA. If BlackBerry were to stop creating low end phones, Android would dominate that segment and BlackBerry's market share would diminish even further.

[just_luc]

For $150 off contract I expect it would look something like this..

[avt123]

$150 BB10 device? You are asking for a device that barely runs. Can you even get a BB7 device for $150 full retail?

[ajst222]

$150 BB10 device? You are asking for a device that barely runs. Can you even get a BB7 device for $150 full retail?

Yes. There are plenty.

Posted via CB10

[ffejrobins30]

It might look something like this...




Posted via CB10

[lorax1284]

...so you're all just totally ruling out a subsidy on the device for BB10 to gain market share? If it cost BlackBerry $500 million to go from 4 million BB10 devices in the market to 14 million in the space of 6 months, would that be worth it?

How much marketing outlay would there have to be to get up to 15 million BB10 devices activated before the end of the calendar year?

[h20work]

For $150 off contract I expect it would look something like this..

$50 less and it could look like this

[h20work]

...so you're all just totally ruling out a subsidy on the device for BB10 to gain market share? If it cost BlackBerry $500 million to go from 4 million BB10 devices in the market to 14 million in the space of 6 months, would that be worth it?

How much marketing outlay would there have to be to get up to 15 million BB10 devices activated before the end of the calendar year?

It amazes me when people are so quick to dismiss something that might actually work.

Let's totally forget that BlackBerry is popular in many markets because it's cheap.

[amazinglygraceless]

$150 off contract should be exactly this

[notfanboy]

Here's one way it could be done. Blackberry could buy those cheap $145 Chinese android phones. They can then root them and flash BB10. Voila!

[h20work]

$150 off contract should be exactly this

http://rack.1.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyM.../443/bb-q5.jpg

Damn that's an ugly phone.

[mathking606]

they are not interested in that right now because even if you can produce one of these cheap devices just for market share, you will always be going up against cheaper android phones and now maybe windows phones. I think to see a low cost BB anyway we would need to wait for BB to optimize the operating system further so that it can run on lower end devices and convince devs to support different resolutions which I am sure that they could do if they were able to sell enough of these devices.

[h20work]

they are not interested in that right now because even if you can produce one of these cheap devices just for market share, you will always be going up against cheaper android phones and now maybe windows phones. I think to see a low cost BB anyway we would need to wait for BB to optimize the operating system further so that it can run on lower end devices and convince devs to support different resolutions which I am sure that they could do if they were able to sell enough of these devices.

Why make the Z and A then? Both have cheaper alternatives with better specs

[avt123]

Yes. There are plenty.

Posted via CB10

In the US, the only one I see on the online carrier stores is the 9315 ($178) for T-Mobile.

[ajst222]

In the US, the only one I see on the online carrier stores is the 9315 ($178) for T-Mobile.

9310 on Boost is I think $79

Posted via CB10

[avt123]

9310 on Boost is I think $79

Posted via CB10

BB10 cannot run on budget hardware ATM. Boost is a budget carrier. Way more so than the big 4. $79 is appropriate for that hardware. Dual core, 2GB of RAM, plus the rest will probably still hover in the $200-$250 range. Unless BlackBerry can get these components for super cheap. That is the hardest part. There is probably no money to be made for the required hardware for said price range.

[ikerrin]

If Nokia can make a phone for $20, I think blackberry could make one for $150. See

Nokia's cheap $20 (and profitable) cell phone - Jul. 1, 2013

I would love for Blackberry to take a page from the One Laptop Per Child and build a low power consuming smartphone. They could use the Neonode technology and reduce the resolution of the screen and put most of the $150 into the battery, the processor and the memory. Imagine having a smartphone with a lower resolution screen that you can type and text and browse on and which lasts a couple of days. Blackberrys are for communicating after all and not for playing games so for a cheep phone do you really need to put your money in the screen. Imagine if the processor was instead focused on the apps and multitasking. You could include FM radio and if it lasted several days it would have a huge advantage in the developing world. Heck, I would love a phone that lasted a long time even in Canada.

[garnok]

i would buy a $200 Q5.

if they want to hold their position in emerging market like indonesia, india, mexico. they have to sell low end phone to if they don't want their market share keep shrinking. but with a decent specs compare with lumia 520, Samsung galaxy fame/ young, Optimus L4 . not a 2G curve with 2 MP camera

[h20work]

BlackBerry needs every single sale they can get. Screw the arrogance and "we don't want to cater to bla bla bla".

Once again bb has shown specs matter since 2gb of ram is necessary to run bb10. "We don't need specs, qnx can run on 64k!".

If anyone wants a off contract BlackBerry for $150, Walmart has the playbook 32gb for $149 last I checked

[CHIP72]

I don't think BlackBerry wants to compete in that segment.

There's no money to be made. The margins are too cut throat.

There's truth to that, but I think part of Blackberry's problem is they are not capable of producing a BB10 smartphone that can be viably sold for $150 (okay, maybe more like $200 or $250) off-contract. Yes, the margins for such a device would be thin, but being able to produce a viable, low-spec device would also mean the higher end devices would probably be cheaper to manufacture while offering strong performance. In such a scenario, Blackberry could probably sell high-end devices at a moderate cost and still make a decent profit (or if so desired at sell them at higher cost and make a large profit).

The benefits of being able to produce reasonably good low-spec devices are both direct (high sales of those devices to build market share) and indirect (what I noted above).

[SK122387]

I honestly don't want to know what a $150 off-contract BB10 device would look like.

It would probably run like the old Curves did...which got slow and lagged when you had pictures, videos, and a few apps...and also just felt cheap.

I haven't handled a Q5 yet, but I can say that neither the Q10 nor the Z10 feel cheap in any way. The only other manufacturer you can say that about is....Apple. And that's some good company to be in

[ikerrin]

Going back to my post a few commenters back, I would change the display to a Pixel Qi display. They are full colour but switch to monochrome in bright light. I really hope that they enter this segment of the market. I am sure that they could produce a great device.