BB should sell retro versions of its old phones
- I think BlackBerry's Android phones failed because they didn't appeal to most BB or Android users. There's a large market for retro products - Nokia sells more feature phones than Androids and the new 3310 was 2017's third best-selling phone.
BB should licence HMD Global or another company to build 'retro' versions of its old phones with 5G and an updated version of BBOS.Last edited by SAVVYSCLUTTER; 06-04-23 at 05:49 AM.
i_plod_an_dr_void likes this.01-12-23 01:17 AMLike 1 - I believe BB's Android phones failed because they were too different to its old models.
There is a large market for retro products and Nokia sells more feature phones than Androids. The new Nokia 3310 was the third best-selling phone of 2017.
I think BB should licence its name to HMD or another company to produce updated versions of its old phones.
These would resemble the originals, support 5G, run an updated version of BBOS and be marketed as retro feature phones.
Example name: Bold 9900 (2023)01-12-23 04:38 AMLike 0 -
That was 5, going on 6 years ago, and pre-pandemic.
By what metric was it the 3rd best selling? Worldwide?
I'd like to see the source for that.
Sent from my SM-G781U using TapatalkLast edited by joeldf; 01-12-23 at 07:30 AM.
Laura Knotek likes this.01-12-23 07:18 AMLike 1 - I believe BB's Android phones failed because they were too different to its old models.
There is a large market for retro products and Nokia sells more feature phones than Androids. The new Nokia 3310 was the third best-selling phone of 2017.
I think BB should licence its name to HMD or another company to produce updated versions of its old phones.
These would resemble the originals, support 5G, run an updated version of BBOS and be marketed as retro feature phones.
Example name: Bold 9900 (2023)
Now I am puzzled as to how a PKB dumb phone doesn't exist at this point. There is still a small market for dumb phones, and Nokia or TCL could offer up a KaiOS powered retro phone. TCL owns the Palm brand and Nokia has a long history with PKB phones.... either could do it without paying any costly BlackBerry taxes/fees.
Would have to be KaiOS or basic ASOP, as the work to move BBOS on to today's hardware would be too costly for this small of a market. And for sure carrier's don't want BIS back... Never mind issue with hardware drivers - there is a reason most these dumb phones today are running on a basic version of ASOP. Anyway BBOS and BB10 are dead, let them rest in peace as there is no reason for them to be dug up.Laura Knotek and Monkey69 like this.01-12-23 07:25 AMLike 2 -
Nobody really tracks dumbphone sales at this point. That said the main offerings I see at my local carrier are TCL, Kyocera, Orbic, Sonim and Nokia. None of these Companies seem to be making much money on these. I don't think it's a business anyone wants to be in at this point.Laura Knotek likes this.01-12-23 07:41 AMLike 1 -
Me, I think back to my dumb phone days and those horizontal sliders with a full keyboard was all that rage.... where are they today? Think a "blackberry style" PKB would be a texting monster...
But bottom line is who is buying these phones today... and what do they really want? Do they even do any texting?Laura Knotek likes this.01-12-23 09:28 AMLike 1 -
The demographic would be BB fans and feature phone buyers.01-12-23 10:44 AMLike 0 -
There wouldn't be anything to carry over from the old.
Might as well start with a current, supported, secure OS - backed by an active developer community and an existing app ecosystem.Ph1llip and Laura Knotek like this.01-12-23 11:02 AMLike 2 -
You want something private and somewhat unique (still Android at heart).... look into https://crackberry.com/could-aphyos-...e-been-waiting. At very least you should help you see the cost involved in doing a ASOP custom ROM. BB10 shows you what going on your own with a different kernel gets you...
But easy to use... and not Android, that leaves an iPhone which I think you are against as well.app_Developer and Laura Knotek like this.01-12-23 11:03 AMLike 2 -
You could just make a phone that doesn't connect to internet and is just a normal dumb phone. Even that has privacy issues if it connects to any phone network anywhere in the world. But if you want a dumbphone, you can build that more cost effectively on KaiOS, as others have decided.01-12-23 11:17 AMLike 0 - You would have to rebuild BBOS from the ground up to support modern hardware, component drivers, and communication protocols. You'd also have to completely redevelop all of the apps from scratch.
There wouldn't be anything to carry over from the old.
Might as well start with a current, supported, secure OS - backed by an active developer community and an existing app ecosystem.01-12-23 11:52 AMLike 0 - Which phones are those? The newer Nokia features phones I've seen lately run KaiOSLaura Knotek likes this.01-12-23 11:56 AMLike 1
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You clicked on "feature phones" AND "Symbian". Click only on "Symbian".
This is an OR argument, not an AND argument.Laura Knotek likes this.01-12-23 12:23 PMLike 1 -
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- These are all GSM phones that have no LTE or 5G capabilities.... these are device meant for less developed markets where GSM is still in use, and will be for years to come. The move to LTE and above required a whole different set of capabilities from devices... it's one reason that KaiOS got so much support from different groups. Dumbphone vendors needed an option beyond building it themselves (none of them could afford to do it) in order to move into LTE.Laura Knotek likes this.01-12-23 01:16 PMLike 1
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I said that, if Symbian can run on new hardware, BBOS may be able to.01-12-23 02:22 PMLike 0 -
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I don't think that S30+ is that closely related to Symbian. It's a relatively new OS, I think only 10 years ago. It is very different from S30. S30+ came out for the first time after BBOS had already ended development.
Regardless, HMD seems to transitioning to KaiOS with their latest new models.
If anyone hasn't looked at KaiOS, it's very nicely put together and they have a good business model and they are addressing a really important market. There is a lot of enthusiasm in the KaiOS developer community, and I think it's for good reason.
And KaiOS is run by a company with actual employees today and development partners and developers who are active today in 2023. Likewise, HMD is a real company with engineering and support staff maintaining their stuff today in 2023.
BB does not have any actual engineers or support stuff in 2023 working on BBOS, BB10, or anything having to do with handsets, handset operating systems, or handset engineering or handset production.Laura Knotek likes this.01-12-23 02:47 PMLike 1 -
I don't think that S30+ is that closely related to Symbian. It's a relatively new OS, I think only 10 years ago. It is very different from S30. S30+ came out for the first time after BBOS had already ended development.
Regardless, HMD seems to transitioning to KaiOS with their latest new models.
If anyone hasn't looked at KaiOS, it's very nicely put together and they have a good business model and they are addressing a really important market. There is a lot of enthusiasm in the KaiOS developer community, and I think it's for good reason.
And KaiOS is run by a company with actual employees today and development partners and developers who are active today in 2023. Likewise, HMD is a real company with engineering and support staff maintaining their stuff today in 2023.
BB does not have any actual engineers or support stuff in 2023 working on BBOS, BB10, or anything having to do with handsets, handset operating systems, or handset engineering or handset production.
But I'm sure that business model has already been thoroughly rejected.01-12-23 03:32 PMLike 0 - Not totally... KaiOS announced they were powering the GHIA GQWERTY that is available in Mexico just last year. I looked into it and it's made by some Chinese electronics spec company that actually had a number of PKB phones available for order that had PKBs. Just need to find 25K friends to order a minimum batch... surly Kevin can get the CrackBerry community together.app_Developer likes this.01-12-23 03:59 PMLike 1
- 01-12-23 05:01 PMLike 0
- Not totally... KaiOS announced they were powering the GHIA GQWERTY that is available in Mexico just last year. I looked into it and it's made by some Chinese electronics spec company that actually had a number of PKB phones available for order that had PKBs. Just need to find 25K friends to order a minimum batch... surly Kevin can get the CrackBerry community together.01-13-23 07:16 AMLike 0
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