[Emaderton3]

If BlackBerry Mobile hammers out deals with American carriers other than Sprint ASAP, the KEYone will end up as the true revitalization of BlackBerry as a smartphone brand. Looking back, it appears the DTEK devices were hurriedly put to market after the Priv's failure as placeholders for the KEYone.

To be clear, BlackBerry Mobile needs to move fast on wooing the other big three American carriers, because apparently the unlocked devices have their own issues on these carriers. I'm afraid the carriers would then ask, "Why bother?" All the more reason for BlackBerry Mobile to work closely with the carriers on getting the carrier versions out in the marketplace ASAP. Thus, I'd suggest getting the KEYone established in all markets and in all the major carriers, then shift focus on its successor as well as the DTEK slab successors.

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Do all of them even carry Alcatel phones?

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[Avenzuno]

Do all of them even carry Alcatel phones?

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That's misleading. BlackBerry Mobile was created to avoid any alleged Alcatel stigma. That said, BlackBerry Mobile is starting from scratch and must try to leverage any goodwill BlackBerry Ltd. had with the carriers, yet at the same time direct them to the future, as shown by the KEYone. It's a tall order for sure, but looking at the glass half empty certainly doesn't help BlackBerry Mobile sell as many KEYones through as many channels it can.

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[southlander]

Android would have been a major issue for BlackBerry to secure back in 2009.

BlackBerrys security focus has never counted for much where it lost the bulk of its ground at first. Consumers. The bb brand was still cool. They could have kept BBOS for highly secure enterprise settings. In fact they did that as they started on BB10.

But instead of spending all that money on developing a no app OS, they could've had consumers buying Android phones with the bb brand on them. With the awesome PKBs.

And later on they could've released the "Enterprise BlackBerry Android OS". Who knows how that would have worked. But I can't imagine it working worse than what they actually did.

If you remember early on there were Android phones with horrible PKBs on them. Those should've been BlackBerry phones. But alas people moved on to typing on glass because apps were more important.

[Emaderton3]

That's misleading. BlackBerry Mobile was created to avoid any alleged Alcatel stigma. That said, BlackBerry Mobile is starting from scratch and must try to leverage any goodwill BlackBerry Ltd. had with the carriers, yet at the same time direct them to the future, as shown by the KEYone. It's a tall order for sure, but looking at the glass half empty certainly doesn't help BlackBerry Mobile sell as many KEYones through as many channels it can.

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Ok, do they all sell TCL phones? Might be easier with an established relationship. Otherwise, I am not sure what the motivation will be for a carrier to offer a brand of phone that has not sold well in the past regardless of OS. It would be interesting to know what the negotiations are like to convince them.

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[joeldf]

... That said, BlackBerry Mobile is starting from scratch and must try to leverage any goodwill BlackBerry Ltd. had with the carriers...

I don't know what "goodwill" you're talking about. There hasn't been any in years... if ever. The Mike and Jim "bull in a china shop" approach towards the carriers from years back didn't help once BlackBerry actually started needing carrier support. Once enough corporate and government clients switched to iPhone/Android, the carriers dropped BlackBerry quick.

The Canadian carriers still work with BlackBerry more out of sense of duty than anything else.

U.S. carriers have more of a "prove it to me first" attitude now, and BlackBerry will have a hard time getting over that. The Keyone is still months from being carried by the one U.S. carrier we even heard might carry it.

Joel

[Avenzuno]

Ok, do they all sell TCL phones? Might be easier with an established relationship. Otherwise, I am not sure what the motivation will be for a carrier to offer a brand of phone that has not sold well in the past regardless of OS. It would be interesting to know what the negotiations are like to convince them.

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Not that I know of. I can only think of the current product, the BlackBerry name, and the key distinguishing feature of the device, the PKB. We're talking Android now, and it seems that OS could pair well with the PKB. Think Reese's peanut butter cup.

All eyes are on Sprint to see how the KEYone fares there. I really hope that as part of the negotiations TCL & BlackBerry Mobile are working hard with the other three big American carriers to iron out any kinks the unlocked KEYone devices have on their networks.

BlackBerry Mobile really needs to succeed where BlackBerry Ltd. has not in the past. Hopefully the carriers will get comf with the notion that while TCL made the KEYone, it bought the design from BlackBerry Ltd. and that a brand new entity, BlackBerry Mobile, will be handling sales and distribution of the TCL-made devices. If anything, BlackBerry Mobile should be competing with the likes of HTC, LG and Sony for carrier adoption.

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[Avenzuno]

I don't know what "goodwill" you're talking about. There hasn't been any in years... if ever. The Mike and Jim "bull in a china shop" approach towards the carriers from years back didn't help once BlackBerry actually started needing carrier support. Once enough corporate and government clients switched to iPhone/Android, the carriers dropped BlackBerry quick.

The Canadian carriers still work with BlackBerry more out of sense of duty than anything else.

U.S. carriers have more of a "prove it to me first" attitude now, and BlackBerry will have a hard time getting over that. The Keyone is still months from being carried by the one U.S. carrier we even heard might carry it.

Joel

I'm talking about BlackBerry Ltd.'s reputation in the industry, its expertise in software, and perhaps most importantly the company's efforts in hardening the Android OS, putting out timely security updates, and offering unique software like DTEK, the Hub software suite, and the exclusive VKB and Notable apps. I'm not sure how many legacy BBOS and BB10 are out there in government or the enterprise, but to the extent there are such devices, BlackBerry Mobile's KEYone can compete with all those slab Android devices out there as possible replacements for said BlackBerry devices.

Yes, carrier adoption is absolutely vital for the KEYone's success, and BlackBerry Mobile's, too. I agree the major US carriers have a "prove it" mentality, and a smooth Sprint rollout will be watched closely. That's why I think BlackBerry Mobile is working hard to work with the other carriers to make sure the unlocked KEYONE devices are working smoothly on their networks. Once this is achieved, the logical step is carrier-branded KEYONE devices to be trotted out ASAP, to provide a good alternative for buyers in all BlackBerry Mobile's markets.

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[kbz1960]

I'm talking about BlackBerry Ltd.'s reputation in the industry, its expertise in software, and perhaps most importantly the company's efforts in hardening the Android OS, putting out timely security updates, and offering unique software like DTEK, the Hub software suite, and the exclusive VKB and Notable apps. I'm not sure how many legacy BBOS and BB10 are out there in government or the enterprise, but to the extent there are such devices, BlackBerry Mobile's KEYone can compete with all those slab Android devices out there as possible replacements for said BlackBerry devices.

Yes, carrier adoption is absolutely vital for the KEYone's success, and BlackBerry Mobile's, too. I agree the major US carriers have a "prove it" mentality, and a smooth Sprint rollout will be watched closely. That's why I think BlackBerry Mobile is working hard to work with the other carriers to make sure the unlocked KEYONE devices are working smoothly on their networks. Once this is achieved, the logical step is carrier-branded KEYONE devices to be trotted out ASAP, to provide a good alternative for buyers in all BlackBerry Mobile's markets.

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Be nice but unlikely

[anon(8163415)]

How can you sell a platform and phones if the seller cheaps out on development support, marketing, advertisements and ignored consumers? Continues to ignore FYI.

As a result the state of this company is quite evident, as we can see by where they are at today.

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