[ray689]

The problem is, most of the sales people probably are well versed with specs, who may steer buyers away for the price over spec argument

You must not have talked to any sales reps lately. The extent of their expertise for the most part is "this is a Samsung" or "this is an iPhone".

[slagman5]

On the flip side, I have a friend that I talk to all the time. She loved BlackBerry devices because of the keyboard and BlackBerry 10 in general. But she eventually had to go the Samsung route since her phone died and the carrier didn't carry BlackBerry devices anymore.
Well I told her about the upcoming K1 and kept her up to date about it via all the videos and CrackBerry posts. When I told her the price, she said it's too expensive and that she thought €400 would be what she'd pay. She'll hold off until the price drops to that point. She's nowhere close to being a techie or anything like that. She just like how easier it was to do things on her old Q. She's Dutch btw.

Now I have another friend but he's in Germany. He's very techie and uses a Classic at the moment. He's been following the K1 and his response to the pricing was "I wonder if they are really serious about such prices."

Just food for thought.

Both of them seem like they follow technology stuff a lot more than the "normal" everyday consumer. Yes, even your first friend. They don't have to know all of the model numbers or anything, but the fact that she looks online and followed BB10, etc.

Seriously, you might think that is normal, but no, we are not normal. The majority of people I run to on a daily basis has no clue what crackberry.com is, or any of the other websites for that matter. What they know about phones is what the reps tell them about when they walk into their local T-Mobile or what-not... I was just at a party last night, not a single one knew about BB10 existence, I think one person heard about crackberry.com but didn't know what it really was...

Posted without the aid of AutoCorrect with my physical keyboard via CB10

[slagman5]

Most importantly, has to be available in stores for people to experience. Not one of those dummy units. An actual, functioning unit.
It would also be nice if it was displayed with other BlackBerry devices (if that's even possible).

 Passport SE with Vitamin (SR) 10.3.2.2836 (OS Version) 10.3.2.2876 on AT&T

Yep, +100. Those are the ones that sell, when they get to play with them a bit.

Posted without the aid of AutoCorrect with my physical keyboard via CB10

[slagman5]

The problem is, most of the sales people probably are well versed with specs, who may steer buyers away for the price over spec argument

I guess it depends on the rep. And they are not at all usually well-versed in specs. A lot of them sell citing the same features I've mentioned. Well, not that they don't know specs, but they also recognize the general consumer would get bored if they start spewing out ghz and soc's and what-not...

Posted without the aid of AutoCorrect with my physical keyboard via CB10

[nycspaces.]

Would have been nice to have a key1 s model aka K1SS - 4gb ram and a hot high end processor at $799.

For now we'll be ok with the $549 K1

[slagman5]

There's one thing that makes this scenario unlikely...and that's the fact that the phone is a BlackBerry. Even if it is an Android phone...it won't matter. The sales people in the stores hate BlackBerry. They have an aversion to it. Don't expect any love from any carrier's sales staff. You won't find any there if you're into BlackBerry. They all think it's a waste of time to even bother with it and will more likely try to talk anyone interested in it to buy something else.

Sorry to sound like a downer on this one...but having experienced the BlackBerry hate first hand in more than one carrier boutique, it's not wise to hope for any positive vibes to come from carrier sales staffs. They're all about selling iPhone and Samsung.

Posted via BlackBerry Passport

I'm sure there are reps like that, we hear the stories all of the time, but there are definitely exceptions, or perhaps the horror stories we've heard are the exceptions. Because honestly I've never had that happen to me when I walk into my local AT&T. In fact, the last time it was when the Priv came out and the rep said he really like the phone...

Posted without the aid of AutoCorrect with my physical keyboard via CB10

[Emaderton3]

I'm sure there are reps like that, we hear the stories all of the time, but there are definitely exceptions, or perhaps the horror stories we've heard are the exceptions. Because honestly I've never had that happen to me when I walk into my local AT&T. In fact, the last time it was when the Priv came out and the rep said he really like the phone...

Posted without the aid of AutoCorrect with my physical keyboard via CB10

Same here at Verizon. After I asked to see a Priv, they (of course) had to go in the back and find one. After they brought it out and I looked at it, two reps kept commenting on what a nice phone it was. But this is the exception.

Posted via CB10

[75911]

Both of them seem like they follow technology stuff a lot more than the "normal" everyday consumer. Yes, even your first friend. They don't have to know al of the model numbers or anything, but the fact that she looks online and followed BB10, etc.

Seriously, you might think that is normal, but no, we are not normal. The majority of people I run to on a daily basis has no clue what crackberry.com is, or any of the other websites for that matter. What they know about phones is what the reps tell them about when they walk into their local T-Mobile or what-not... I was just at a party last night, not a single one knew about BB10 existence, I think one person heard about crackberry.com but didn't know what it really was...

Posted without the aid of AutoCorrect with my physical keyboard via CB10

I wouldn't jump to this conclusion. There is a significant market out there for good phones at mid range prices. Almost everyone I know has an iPhone or a cheaper Android phone. 99% of them don't know what's in the phone besides storage.

Most people don't care about specs. That doesn't mean they don't choose a price range.

[slagman5]

You must not have talked to any sales reps lately. The extent of their expertise for the most part is "this is a Samsung" or "this is an iPhone".

Lol.

Posted without the aid of AutoCorrect with my physical keyboard via CB10

[Bbnivende]

More than the price, I'd say the fact that most Americans buy phones from their service provider is the biggest challenge.

I've noticed in my circle (purely anecdotal and not scientific evidence lol) most would only buy outside the carrier unlocked devices just for either the "high-end" expensive devices or lower priced 'budget' devices like what the Motorola G5 will be.

I'm a physical keyboard fan, but am not ready to let go of my Passport or BB10 just yet.
That being said, I personally believe the KeyOne is overpriced because I doubt the rest of the market values a hardware keyboard as much as I do.

If they do not value a PKB, a price drop will not make them value it more.

Posted via CB10

[tnewton3]

Agree. We'll see how TCL handles themselves come April.

Posted without the aid of AutoCorrect with my physical keyboard via CB10

I'm hoping we see some advertising before the April time frame. I'm thinking they are waiting until they have an actual release date and which carriers are supporting the device before they release any advertising. I would like to see some prime time television advertising both during TV programming and big sporting events.

Slagman, thanks for the post, good to hear an honest opinion of someone excited about the phone and not worried about the price/specs.

To comment on the sales reps pushing the new BlackBerry device, it's going to come down to education on the device and the spiff the reps receive from selling it. Coming from the retail Wireless world I know that the payout on iPhones is absolutely garbage and if the spiff were to be higher on the K1 this would definitely help.

In my opinion for a decent release they will need, marketing, carrier support and an on time seamless release across the 4 major carriers in the US.

[meattray]

I've had hit or miss experiences with reps at Rogers. Some are quite knowledgeable and know a lot about the phones and others just kind of direct out the normal talking points. I wouldn't say I've had any really look at BlackBerry negatively though.

Posted via CB10

[anon(1052990)]

Honor 6x, moto z play, galaxy on7, Huawei p10 lite, Lenovo p2 or galaxy s7 discounted now are all battery friendly, for a lot cheaper, so all people not looking for specs but price and good battery and good performance

[raqball]

At no point did she say, "But Kenneth, does it have the Qualcomm sd821 CPU with 4 cores and the Adreno 530 GPU?" For her and pretty much every "normal" person I talk to, they care about the features they see, touch, and use. They might ask about the screen, camera, and now the keyboard. But people here seem to think that the average consumer will be online reading up spec sheets instead of walking into a store and playing with the displays until one catches his/her eye either by the features or by the price...

Thanks for sharing..

The only people upset are the spec warriors and they in the extreme minority of overall users. But even though they are the minority, they tend to be the most vocal about their spec warrior mentality and displeasure...

[jope28]

If they do not value a PKB, a price drop will not make them value it more.

Posted via CB10

I'd say it's more of a "how much more" would you be willing to pay for a physical keyboard compared to similarly performing devices.
I'd say that there is a spectrum from our old friend, 'Mr. Demand Curve' lol.

I value a physical keyboard more than a camera or super high resolution screen, unlike most of the market.
I personally, would pay more for the keyboard device than I would any of those other 'flagship devices', but I'm not the type of customer that can bring success to TCL (Alcatel or BlackBerry).

So, I disagree with your "If they do not value a PKB, a price drop will not make them value it more.". It's not a binary choice.
Some hipsters might (fingers crossed lol) "try out" a physical keyboard for the 'right' price.

:-)




"...villains who twirl their mustaches are easy to spot. Those that clothe themselves in good deeds are well camouflaged."

[anon(870071)]

Only gadget nerds like us get into specs like the way we do. Most people dont have a care for detailed specs and just want a phone that works well.

[bb10adopter111]

Honor 6x, moto z play, galaxy on7, Huawei p10 lite, Lenovo p2 or galaxy s7 discounted now are all battery friendly, for a lot cheaper, so all people not looking for specs but price and good battery and good performance

And the physical keyboards on all.of those phones are great...oh...wait...never mind. I forgot they don't have one.

Posted with my trusty Z10

[antonrr]

Great post OP. The nerds who calculate ever spec / $ division don't understand a normal smartphone consumers mindset.

This thing is going to sell.

Posted via CB10

[slagman5]

And the physical keyboards on all.of those phones are great...oh...wait...never mind. I forgot they don't have one.

Posted with my trusty Z10

Exactly, everyone loves to compare apples to bananas...

[slagman5]

Great post OP. The nerds who calculate ever spec / $ division don't understand a normal smartphone consumers mindset.

This thing is going to sell.

Posted via CB10

Hopefully, it depends on marketing and carrier relations...

[yessuz]

with due respect to the OP's friend but she thinks that the best car is amm.. red?

[yessuz]

And the physical keyboards on all.of those phones are great...oh...wait...never mind. I forgot they don't have one.

Posted with my trusty Z10

what they have, actually, is brand recognition and good visibility.
Blackberry's name, sadly, for some time is a joke.

If you want to get traction and your image back to the certain level - you need to flood the market.

TCL are capable to do so. but not at this price level.

[Bbnivende]

what they have, actually, is brand recognition and good visibility.
Blackberry's name, sadly, for some time is a joke.

If you want to get traction and your image back to the certain level - you need to flood the market.

TCL are capable to do so. but not at this price level.

Not a niche device either.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

Not a niche device either.

That's what most here refuse to "get"....

TCL is going after Enterprise, with a phone(s) that have features that only enterprise and a few "prosumers" are going to be interested in. The price really didn't matter that much.

[raqball]

Blackberry's name, sadly, for some time is a joke.

Disagree wholeheartedly...

Millions and millions of people used and absolutely loved their Blackberry's in the past. BB lost sight of where the market was going and it cost them.. If TCL successfully markets and sells the phone then I can see BB making a comeback.. A slow comeback? Maybe...

Look at Samsung.. They were the laughing stock of the Android world not to long ago.. What did Samsung do besides loading their phones with bloat, bloat, bloat and crapware? They spent billions of $$$$ on advertising..

BB still have plenty of fans hiding in the closet afraid to come back out..

One thing that's going to hurt BB is that people want ginormous phones these days. A ginormous screen with a PKB would make the phone insanely larger than a normal ginormous phone without a PKB..

I wish they'd make the Curve (8300) comeback with Android.. That was my favorite BB ever.. Yeah, I even dug the Perl (7100) and the 7290 which was my 1st BB.. LOL

I moved away from BB and the KEYone is making me comeback so SCOREone person that they made come back to the brand with this release.. Are their others like me out there?