[Good Future]

Good reviews. Selling very well in the UK. General buzz especially in YouTube comments is that there is a near ravenous desire for this phone.

Will the KEYone usher in a Slabexit?

This is the phone that we were waiting for.

Here's to the KEYtwo and KEYthree...

[Bertie Bear]

The stated aim of TCL was to "disrupt the UK mobile market". But barely anyone in the UK is aware this phone exists. The two free London dailies that everyone reads are full of S8 adverts but there has been zero advertising or promotion for the Keyone. It is on display in various CPW stores, but lost among 30 or so other phones. And of course Apple and Samsung have their own display stands so most people don't even see other brands. (Selfridges does have a separate BB display but that's the exception and it's a department store - most people looking to buy a phone don't head there, they go to the carriers' stores.) I really wonder how many units have been sold so far.
Perhaps there will be some promotion over here when the worldwide launch occurs?

Typed on my indestructible BlackBerry™ PlayBook™

[Mithrandrost]

A further question... If you took a random survey of 10, 000 cellphone users what percentage would be very satisfied, satisfied, neutral, unhappy or very unhappy with the slab form factor?

The universal slab style phone likely evolved more in imitation of the market leading iPhone than market research. Because of this, I am not sure if all end users were really on the same page with the slab phone design. Anecdotally, it seems that the latent interest in PKB is higher than might be expected. The big difference now is that the OS of the KEYone is directly comparable to a large segment of the marketplace.

[jamesharmeling]

I know this: I work in hospitality management. I currently use the Dtek50, but before that it was the Curve, Bold, Classic, Passport, and Priv.

I am now as slow as everyone else. With my PKB's I was quicker and faster than anyone. During meetings, we often use our smartphones to communicate and dig up information. As everyone else would be pecking at their slabs, my thumbs were firing off at a record pace.

I'm SO looking forward to getting back to a pkb on the Key1 and returning to my glory days as "The BlackBerry One" who holds the "Key" to life in his little box of magical destiny. There can be only ONE.

[Elephant_Canyon]

A further question... If you took a random survey of 10, 000 cellphone users what percentage would be very satisfied, satisfied, neutral, unhappy or very unhappy with the slab form factor?

The universal slab style phone likely evolved more in imitation of the market leading iPhone than market research. Because of this, I am not sure if all end users were really on the same page with the slab phone design. Anecdotally, it seems that the latent interest in PKB is higher than might be expected. The big difference now is that the OS of the KEYone is directly comparable to a large segment of the marketplace.

It's highly likely that the answer (if a truly random, representative sample were taken) would be in the high 80% to low 90% range for "Very satisfied" and "Satisfied," with "Neutral" taking up the majority of the remaining percentage. "Unhappy" and "Very unhappy" would probably register close to 1% or 2%.

[Bertie Bear]

[QUOTE=bb10adopter111;12884079]So, in what way is a PKB useful you don't enter very much text. Is there a use for PKBs I'm not familiar with? I can see that someone who enters a lot of text might prefer a VKB, but I don't know why someone who doesn't would want to give up the screen real estate for a feature they don't use much.
/QUOTE]

As well as the actual typing, I love using the keyboard for shortcuts to open apps, scrolling, & all the features that Alain Lagrange has brought into play. His Keyboard Browser is now my go to browser.

[Emaderton3]

[QUOTE=Bertie Bear;12884885]

So, in what way is a PKB useful you don't enter very much text. Is there a use for PKBs I'm not familiar with? I can see that someone who enters a lot of text might prefer a VKB, but I don't know why someone who doesn't would want to give up the screen real estate for a feature they don't use much.
/QUOTE]

As well as the actual typing, I love using the keyboard for shortcuts to open apps, scrolling, & all the features that Alain Lagrange has brought into play. His Keyboard Browser is now my go to browser.

Shortcuts. Scrolling without covering the screen with a finger. Not losing screen real estate when typing. Small things, but some may appreciate them.

Posted via CB10

[bb10adopter111]

[QUOTE=Emaderton3;12884890]

Shortcuts. Scrolling without covering the screen with a finger. Not losing screen real estate when typing. Small things, but some may appreciate them.

Posted via CB10

I love all those features, but it's hard to imagine someone buying the phone for those alone, if that's all they did with the KB.

Posted with my trusty Z10

[Bertie Bear]

[QUOTE=bb10adopter111;12884898]

I love all those features, but it's hard to imagine someone buying the phone for those alone, if that's all they did with the KB.

Sadly almost no-one will ever know these features exist. Highly unlikely that CPW in-store staff will know, unless by great chance they frequent the Crackberry forums.
Its up to us PKB users (both Priv & Keyone) to spread the word to colleagues, friends & family!

[C_McD]

[QUOTE=Bertie Bear;12884936]

Sadly almost no-one will ever know these features exist. Highly unlikely that CPW in-store staff will know, unless by great chance they frequent the Crackberry forums.
Its up to us PKB users (both Priv & Keyone) to spread the word to colleagues, friends & family!

You're right BB. I think one reason the PRIV failed was lack of store support. Third party stores push what their management want to push and service providers aren't properly trained or again push what's easiest.

I went into VZW some time after the Priv was available and asked about it - they said they might have one in the back (?) - no display model????

Unfortunately, most people are followers and don't look at specs or think for themselves.

Z30 10.3.3.2205 USA

[Chuck Finley69]

[QUOTE=C_McD;12885021]

You're right BB. I think one reason the PRIV failed was lack of store support. Third party stores push what their management want to push and service providers aren't properly trained or again push what's easiest.

I went into VZW some time after the Priv was available and asked about it - they said they might have one in the back (?) - no display model????

Unfortunately, most people are followers and don't look at specs or think for themselves.

Z30 10.3.3.2205 USA

Since PRIV, DTEK and KEYone are BlackBerry Android OS, there is no "training" necessary. If any store associate, can sell any Flagship Android device, it becomes a matter of what sells the easiest. Since other companies have advertising budgets equal to old BlackBerry revenue, there was no possible way to compete. Period.

With BlackBerry Mobile, they have to pay their way onto the carriers platforms and the incumbents will not just rollover and give up marketshare.

Store employees just do their jobs which is to sell phones. Whatever people ask for is what they sell. If someone asks for guidance, they will recommend whatever are top sellers with fewest returns and complaints. That's just common sense, not a conspiracy.

[anon(679606)]

They sell what makes more profit and whatever is on hand so the customer spends...

[Tre Lawrence]

Unfortunately, most people are followers and don't look at specs or think for themselves.

Yes, because buying well supported devices with conventional attributes is always proof that one can't think for themselves.

[murphy_thom]

I agree with you, and with the previous poster that 1M devices is not sufficient to sustain the KEYone form factor. But, I suspect TCL is also aware that the FIRST iteration of this device is unlikely to be a hit, for the simple reason that the distribution network required to achieve multi-million unit sales is not yet on board.

It's a chicken and egg problem, and TCL will have to accept losses early on if they want to relaunch the BlackBerry brand as a successful niche brand. Unlike BlackBerry, however, they have a sufficient portfolio to do this.

If the KEYone continues to get good press and sells 1M units in the first year, and if users LIKE the phone, then TCL will have a reason to expect reasonable growth over time. There are still 20-40M legacy (BBOS and BB10) BlackBerry users out there who are up for grabs.

Personally, I doubt that anyone at TCL thought that the KEYone would magically sell 5M or more units. They are pros at estimating mobile device demand. That's why they haven't built stock aggressively. They are likely looking at BlackBerry Mobile as a medium to long term opportunity. They want to establish BlackBerry Mobile as a solid second tier brand in the marketplace. Their competition is companies like Motorola, not Samsung and Apple.

Posted with my trusty Z10

Stop talking common sense... it's way over the majority on this board comprehension.

Posted via CB10

[murphy_thom]

A further question... If you took a random survey of 10, 000 cellphone users what percentage would be very satisfied, satisfied, neutral, unhappy or very unhappy with the slab form factor?

The universal slab style phone likely evolved more in imitation of the market leading iPhone than market research. Because of this, I am not sure if all end users were really on the same page with the slab phone design. Anecdotally, it seems that the latent interest in PKB is higher than might be expected. The big difference now is that the OS of the KEYone is directly comparable to a large segment of the marketplace.

PKB interest is less than 1% of the market. There's an entire generation that has never used a PKB and the majority that have used a PKB moved on years ago to slabs. PKB is a niche market for a niche group of buyers.

Posted via CB10

[murphy_thom]

[QUOTE=C_McD;12885021]

You're right BB. I think one reason the PRIV failed was lack of store support. Third party stores push what their management want to push and service providers aren't properly trained or again push what's easiest.

I went into VZW some time after the Priv was available and asked about it - they said they might have one in the back (?) - no display model????

Unfortunately, most people are followers and don't look at specs or think for themselves.

Z30 10.3.3.2205 USA

Priv is a niche product that 99.5% never wanted. It failed because there is no demand for a slider keyboard.

Posted via CB10

[anon(679606)]

Unfortunately, most people are followers and don't look at specs or think for themselves."... sure, then comes the salesman who is asked to recommend... the schizophrenic specs BlackBerry proffers, be it a funny shape, then a pitiful selfie camera, finally now a low quality display, makes the salesperson recommend anything but BlackBerry devices...

[anon(9353145)]

Unfortunately, most people are followers and don't look at specs or think for themselves."... sure, then comes the salesman who is asked to recommend... the schizophrenic specs BlackBerry proffers, be it a funny shape, then a pitiful selfie camera, finally now a low quality display, makes the salesperson recommend anything but BlackBerry devices...

Well, to be fair, carrier / best buy / etc sales reps are unlikely to recommend any BlackBerry devices. The DTEK60 is a decent slab at a decent price and I don't think they recommended it either because (a) no spiffs like Samsung, Apple etc (b) poor brand perception among consumers of the BlackBerry brand.

Pretty sure TCL/TCT are already aware of this and yet they released the KeyONE as a niche device because they're trying to target a certain segment of the market. And it isn't in the consumer sphere, I'm quite sure. They're reportedly releasing some BlackBerry slabs later in the year and those devices will be more consumer friendly no doubt. The KeyONE will be pushed by specialized enterprise sales teams at clients who don't walk into a store looking to upgrade their phone...

Whether they can rehabilitate the brand name in consumer eyes is another matter.

[donnation]

[QUOTE=C_McD;12885021]

You're right BB. I think one reason the PRIV failed was lack of store support. Third party stores push what their management want to push and service providers aren't properly trained or again push what's easiest.

I went into VZW some time after the Priv was available and asked about it - they said they might have one in the back (?) - no display model????

Unfortunately, most people are followers and don't look at specs or think for themselves.

Z30 10.3.3.2205 USA

The Priv failed because it was a crappy device when it launched. The Priv forum which is BB diehards was hammered with problem threads of overheating, poor build quality, software issues, and just overall displeasure with the phone. Its improved some over time but when it launched it wasn't a very good phone. The keyboard stinks on it too.

[Emaderton3]

[QUOTE=donnation;12886918]

The Priv failed because it was a crappy device when it launched. The Priv forum which is BB diehards was hammered with problem threads of overheating, poor build quality, software issues, and just overall displeasure with the phone. Its improved some over time but when it launched it wasn't a very good phone. The keyboard stinks on it too.

Unfortunately this is quite accurate. Same when the Z came out. And people started returning them at a high rate. Can you blame them for not pushing BlackBerry phones?

Posted via CB10

[anon(10101748)]

Will barely crack 2-3% of Android Market Share yet overall Smart Phone Share...I'm as loyal as they get, but a realist as well.