[qwerty4ever]

I am not surprised at all that BlackBerry Mobile is going with Just In Time model...did they underestimate the launch demand? Likely! Did the retailers underestimate the demand and not buy/order enough inventory? Likely! BlackBerry Mobile will learn from this, in my opinion, and realize that our little niche market is actually bigger...

Maybe BlackBerry Mobile should have sold exclusively direct to consumer with the wireless carriers only handling enterprise sales. The only downside for consumers might be the lack of discounted pricing upfront as we get from the wireless carriers when signing up for a contract term.

[qwerty4ever]

Maybe the screen is falling off the phone because people are holding it wrongly?

Apple's antenna gate redux? Touche.

[NaijaBerry]

Maybe not, I have my £499 or $549 in cash right now and I can't order to ship international. Only CPW have them in stock in the UK and they have no option for international shipping, neither can I use my international card to order, ship local and forward. Amazon UK and US do not have them in stock and that's my main e-Shopping centre for most things, so I'm not sure this is working for them in any way because right now both my phones, a BBPP and a NX6P are acting up, so my £ or $ is going to go elsewhere any moment if either of them goes bust. I can't believe I'm actually considering an iThing now cos of this supply issue!

This is not a blessing because people tend to make plans based on timelines which is clearly non existent in BB/TCL world, money just doesn't hang in there waiting for your act to come together now does it.

[primusd]

I'm starting to wonder if the delay to 31May was due to QC issues?

It may yet still be too early to tell, but I'm inclined to think similarly... this delay and launch mess may ultimately be the result of some manufacturing issues (maybe they did ramp up production seeing increased initial demand, but did so cutting a few corners or were forced to deal with a less than ideal parts supplier??). I just hope the % of still defective units they did let go to market isn't too big so as to kill the hype once more (and hopefully better quality) units are again available. In that sense, the 'blessing in disguise' might actually be that more people get properly-built units instead of some massive 'screen-gate' return crisis.

[cbvinh]

Maybe not, I have my £499 or $549 in cash right now and I can't order to ship international. Only CPW have them in stock in the UK and they have no option for international shipping, neither can I use my international card to order, ship local and forward. Amazon UK and US do not have them in stock and that's my main e-Shopping centre for most things, so I'm not sure this is working for them in any way because right now both my phones, a BBPP and a NX6P are acting up, so my £ or $ is going to go elsewhere any moment if either of them goes bust. I can't believe I'm actually considering an iThing now cos of this supply issue!

This is not a blessing because people tend to make plans based on timelines which is clearly non existent in BB/TCL world, money just doesn't hang in there waiting for your act to come together now does it.

If you're absolutely pressed for time and time is more important to you than money (after all, people pay extra for expedited shipping versus standard for a reason), then there's always eBay.

[murphy_thom]

BlackBerry diehards will wait it out, the rest of the phone buying public will move on. I imagine I will never see another KEYone in my life (except if I make it to the local CB meetup.) I think TCL's only hope now is enterprise sales, and maybe that was their intent all along.

This "launch" will be used as further evidence (if any is needed) that "People don't want physical keyboards on their phones."

The rest of the phone buying public wash

Posted via CB10

[NaijaBerry]

If you're absolutely pressed for time and time is more important to you than money (after all, people pay extra for expedited shipping versus standard for a reason), then there's always eBay.

Considered that option, but I always buy my hardware from a source I can return it to if it has issues, Amazon, CPW etc will definitely be more helpful than an unknown seller on eBay

[cbvinh]

Considered that option, but I always buy my hardware from a source I can return it to if it has issues, Amazon, CPW etc will definitely be more helpful than an unknown seller on eBay

Very true, if you have to return to the source, which sounds like it would be a hassle for you, instead of just dealing with BlackBerry Mobile directly, i.e. it sounds like you'll have to have it shipped?

I was on Amazon reading reviews and noticed that a 1 star review was due to a keyboard problem. BlackBerry Mobile responded and provided an 800 number to see if they could help expedite a replacement. Now, I don't know how it ultimately resolved, but it seems they're proactively reading complaints and trying to fix problems directly.

[chagheill]

Yah I agree its a blessing in disguise too.
Since everywhere is out of stock (for whatever reason it may be), chances are the next available phones are of a different production batch. This means, if there were any QC issues in the previous batch, the next batch SHOULD have rectified some of the issues. The problem with that logic is how quickly the problems are found and how quickly changes are implemented on the line. Depending on the issue (design/manufacturing/handling related) root causing and determining a solution could take weeks if not months.

And if its a QC related issue, it really doesn't matter who sells the device. BB selling the device themselves wouldn't have changed anything.

Tldr.
Phone shortage is only good news to bb fans. Either the phones a hit or they have a yard hold/stopped production to resolve issues.

[NaijaBerry]

Very true, if you have to return to the source, which sounds like it would be a hassle for you, instead of just dealing with BlackBerry Mobile directly, i.e. it sounds like you'll have to have it shipped?

I was on Amazon reading reviews and noticed that a 1 star review was due to a keyboard problem. BlackBerry Mobile responded and provided an 800 number to see if they could help expedite a replacement. Now, I don't know how it ultimately resolved, but it seems they're proactively reading complaints and trying to fix problems directly.

You're absolutely right, manufacturer response on Amazon has been prompt and they answer questions quite quickly. That's quite encouraging really