[werner69]

So I am a person who buys devices outright. I hate being tied to contracts and usually look for deals. If a specific tech really has a wow factor, I'll shell out more $. However, blackberry has consistently overpriced there hardware. Including the classic. They probably have a good reason for this, but the average consumer doesn't care about this. They will see what they can get in the android and windows phone area for half the price and with decent specs.

IPhone has the consumer mindshare and people are willing to pay anything it seems or go on contract. Even the q5 was a bit much for what you got. I'm not sure about the z3.

I am not talking about fire sale prices. I am talking about the regular release prices. A lot of people don't want to wait until prices go down and/or buy older hardware.

Blackberry is missing the hesitant consumer who might want to try bb10 but are afraid of investing too much in a platform they have never tried. My opinion.

[RichardHBB]

BlackBerry is no longer interested in the consumer market. They know they can't compete in it so they've abandoned it. John Chen has said as much. Their target is the business market. What their angle for hardware is in that market, I don't know. They seem to be more interested in selling software/services.

Consumer-level BB enthusiasm is relegated to this nutty cult we appear to all belong to, at this point. Doesn't make me love BB phones any less, but it certainly puts a damper on hopes for the future!

Richard

[Euan]

As Chen mentioned before, BlackBerry is now focusing on business people and other professionals. It will expand to consumer class after regained it's base and turned the ship around.

Posted via CB10

[werner69]

They were going for the consumer market at the launch of blackberry 10. The z10 and q10 were not competitively priced for a completely new operating system.

[RichardHBB]

Yep, operative word there being "were" - and the phones would (capital-W WOULD) have been competitive, with carrier subsidies. Not enough carrier support though and that's something that should have been predictable.

Richard

[tacsniper]

Most corporations and consumers go on contracts. Very small percentage of the market consistently buy hardware outright. I think BlackBerry priced their hardware in line with THEIR objectives.

Like others mentioned, consumer market is not BlackBerry's target audience at the moment. So they must come up with mid-range devices that have decent specs and small up front pricing for businesses to go on contracts with their providers. $50 CAD for Classic and $100 CAD for Passport (before negotiations). $50 or less per phone seems very affordable for corporations that is looking at deploying multiple devices.

[John Crist]

I hear what you're saying about Android and Windows Phones being cheaper. When I buy phones, I also buy them outright.

Where I have to disagree with you is the point that BlackBerry phones are overpriced. From a strictly spec perspective, yes, they're overpriced. Time and time again we have debates on these forums about how specs aren't everything and they really aren't. If you put out a phone with an 8 core 4.5GHz processor, 16GB of RAM, 1TB flash storage, selling for $200 outright, is it a good buy?

I'm willing to bet you just said to yourself, "Yes".

What we didn't talk about was the software on the phone. It's running Windows Mobile 6 with no chance of it's ROM being unlocked and the publisher refuses to release and kernel or driver information ever. Oh, and the platform from time to time tends to do weird stuff, like self-reset or loose data, and is susceptible to viral attacks and hijacking.

Still a good buy? Most certainly not.

When I bought my 8350i, I bought a device I knew I could rely on that would always work so long as the batter was good. I didn't care how much it cost. When I bought my Torch 2, I bought a device that I knew would last into the conceivable future and always work, so long as the battery was good. When I bought my Classic, I shelled out money for a device that I knew would be secure, reliable, do everything I need to do, and never have a hiccup. Every BlackBerry I've ever owned has been 100% reliable and still works even today.

I have a Google G1. It works, kinda. I didn't abuse it any more than I did my BlackBerries but it's far from reliable. I have a Galaxy Note 3. It works, obviously, though the OS has slowed down considerably and the bloat was always a problem. I've had to replace the battery once in it already and I carry 2 precharged spares because I power use my phones. I have an HTC One M8, great little phone. It has the least amount of issues in comparison to my other Android phones, some of which I hadn't mentioned for brevity. Can't even begin to tell you how frustrated I am with it's camera hardware and that stupid coating they put on the lens. Don't even get me started on Windows Phone. I have a Lumia 900, 920, and 1020. They're a prime example of decent hardware of the time paired with **** software.

At the end of the day, tl;dr, I spent money on a device that'll wear in with me, not wear out on me. Android has never been and never will be able to say the same, most certainly Windows Phone can't. To people strictly wanting to pick fights with a community, specs mean everything. Unfortunately, to the users, what matters is the reliability, higher level of rapid productivity that is unmatched by any other device, and experience, and those two things justify the price tag.


Posted via CB10

[BBUniq01]

I hear what you're saying about Android and Windows Phones being cheaper. When I buy phones, I also buy them outright.

Where I have to disagree with you is the point that BlackBerry phones are overpriced. From a strictly spec perspective, yes, they're overpriced. Time and time again we have debates on these forums about how specs aren't everything and they really aren't. If you put out a phone with an 8 core 4.5GHz processor, 16GB of RAM, 1TB flash storage, selling for $200 outright, is it a good buy?

I'm willing to bet you just said to yourself, "Yes".

What we didn't talk about was the software on the phone. It's running Windows Mobile 6 with no chance of it's ROM being unlocked and the publisher refuses to release and kernel or driver information ever. Oh, and the platform from time to time tends to do weird stuff, like self-reset or loose data, and is susceptible to viral attacks and hijacking.

Still a good buy? Most certainly not.

When I bought my 8350i, I bought a device I knew I could rely on that would always work so long as the batter was good. I didn't care how much it cost. When I bought my Torch 2, I bought a device that I knew would last into the conceivable future and always work, so long as the battery was good. When I bought my Classic, I shelled out money for a device that I knew would be secure, reliable, do everything I need to do, and never have a hiccup. Every BlackBerry I've ever owned has been 100% reliable and still works even today.

I have a Google G1. It works, kinda. I didn't abuse it any more than I did my BlackBerries but it's far from reliable. I have a Galaxy Note 3. It works, obviously, though the OS has slowed down considerably and the bloat was always a problem. I've had to replace the battery once in it already and I carry 2 precharged spares because I power use my phones. I have an HTC One M8, great little phone. It has the least amount of issues in comparison to my other Android phones, some of which I hadn't mentioned for brevity. Can't even begin to tell you how frustrated I am with it's camera hardware and that stupid coating they put on the lens. Don't even get me started on Windows Phone. I have a Lumia 900, 920, and 1020. They're a prime example of decent hardware of the time paired with **** software.

At the end of the day, tl;dr, I spent money on a device that'll wear in with me, not wear out on me. Android has never been and never will be able to say the same, most certainly Windows Phone can't. To people strictly wanting to pick fights with a community, specs mean everything. Unfortunately, to the users, what matters is the reliability, higher level of rapid productivity that is unmatched by any other device, and experience, and those two things justify the price tag.


Posted via CB10

I have a similar experience with u where I ended with BlackBerry due to its reliability while having issues with our devices from the other platforms,except for Windows phone which I have never owned. So, for me, the money I had spent on my Z10, 9780 and Classic (all bought at initial offering price) has been worth it. These devices are just solid. I have passed my Z10 to my son who abuses that poor phone. Yet it runs like a champ. And I carry my devices without cases. Have not had lags (and I like installing leaks), been dropped many times, still retain great call quality and looks good. Even the used Q10 and Z10 that I had bought have done well. So, I have no complaints as a consumer.

Posted via Q10 with 1154