[Xadion]

Remember when we all agreed on what the perfect price point for the Priv would be? Yeah - whatever sane people think the phone should be +200-300 additional BlackBerry is stupid fee and you have your release msrp. So it's going to be Priv release price.

Posted via CB10

[krazyatom]

Remember when we all agreed on what the perfect price point for the Priv would be? Yeah - whatever sane people think the phone should be +200-300 additional BlackBerry is stupid fee and you have your release msrp. So it's going to be Priv release price.

Posted via CB10

I am pretty sure TCL will make pricing decision because BlackBerry only licensing the their software. It doesn't matter phone is $500 or $1000, BlackBerry will get same profit.

[TheBirdDog]

"Most people..." Sorry, I couldn't care less whether my opinion lines up with "most people" or not. I personally don't want to carry around a battery pack or even a charge cable. By all accounts the specs of this phone should be enough for you to do all of those "work" things without any issues. If you don't care about games, that means any more and it's simply paying more money and having worse battery life. I personally don't see a benefit...

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

I am totally with you on that.

"OK, you can open your Hub 0.025 seconds faster than me... but my battery lasts 6 hours longer than yours."

[mithrazor]

Seriously, from what I've seen the 625 is more than capable.

In every day tasks you probably won't notice a difference. Only in gaming and heavy multitasking it can stutter.

Even though multitasking is important to me, if it is $500 dollars I'll still seriously consider getting it

[anon(9607753)]

"Most people..." Sorry, I couldn't care less whether my opinion lines up with "most people" or not. I personally don't want to carry around a battery pack or even a charge cable. By all accounts the specs of this phone should be enough for you to do all of those "work" things without any issues. If you don't care about games, that means any more and it's simply paying more money and having worse battery life. I personally don't see a benefit...

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

I think what I meant was...if you have to change the way you work to suit your phone, there is a problem. Which means BlackBerry didn't really understand productivity at all. Better hardware also means better productivity. Nor do they seem to appreciate the value of money...because people want to spend their hard earned money on nice things, not overpriced things that are 'good enough' to do the job. It looks like they have finally started to figure that out...at least the price part. We'll have to see how Mercury turns out (beyond the spin and the hype) to see if they are also getting a handle on creating products that people (and not mostly business entities and IT administrators) see value in buying.

[howarmat]

anything less than $550 would shock me. There is alot of new manufacturing that TCL is doing with the keyboard. Good camera also. So I would aim high so you wont be disappointed.

[cbvinh]

Remember when we all agreed on what the perfect price point for the Priv would be? Yeah - whatever sane people think the phone should be +200-300 additional BlackBerry is stupid fee and you have your release msrp. So it's going to be Priv release price.

The DTEK 50 and 60 came in under the price points people here said would be a "buy".

[bakron1]

If the Mercury comes in at 449.00 to 499.00 US, I am all in and will buy one the day it's released.

[Arabianhorse]

Me too. Remember when we crabbed about Digital River? Lol

Using the DTEK60 but missing the physical keyboard

[tnewton3]

$450-$500 would be fantastic. I have a work line that still allows for 2 year upgrade pricing so that would be even better.

[slagman5]

I think what I meant was...if you have to change the way you work to suit your phone, there is a problem. Which means BlackBerry didn't really understand productivity at all. Better hardware also means better productivity. Nor do they seem to appreciate the value of money...because people want to spend their hard earned money on nice things, not overpriced things that are 'good enough' to do the job. It looks like they have finally started to figure that out...at least the price part. We'll have to see how Mercury turns out (beyond the spin and the hype) to see if they are also getting a handle on creating products that people (and not mostly business entities and IT administrators) see value in buying.

And where's the evidence that you'd need to change the way you work?

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

[blueyestm]

My only question is where can we buy one. You'd think there would be a preorder option out now no? I've only seen one site that is offering a case too so it's going to be rough getting accessories when you get the phone so it doesn't get scratched.

[red5gary]

I bet it'll be $499 US and $599 Canadian right off the bat. Maybe $50 bucks lower for both countries.

[IqaluitZen]

I think pricing will be determined by TCL and by the hardware and specs of the Mercury.
Right now, there seems to be some confusion on what the hardware and specs will be.
Until we know the specs, it's hard to speculate on pricing. If it's a mid-range device, I hope it costs less than $300 USD, but if it's got top end hardware and specs, then I think anything under $500 should be an okay price.
If TCL and BlackBerry want to really sell a lot of devices, they'll price it as low as possible.
Will they advertise the Mercury or DTEK50 and DTEK60 devices? That is what I would like to know!

[raseru03]

$499 is reasonable since they lowered the price of DTEKs. Still on the range of what John Chen said about the price of their next phone (~$400) when he said the Priv's price was a mistake. But hardware is now handled and will be priced by BlackberryMobile/TCL so it doesn't matter what JC said anymore..? Haha

Posted via CB10

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

$499 is reasonable since they lowered the price of DTEKs. Still on the range of what John Chen said about the price of their next phone (~$400) when he said the Priv's price was a mistake. But hardware is now handled and will be priced by BlackberryMobile/TCL so it doesn't matter what JC said anymore..? Haha

Posted via CB10

Pricing of the DTEKs really means nothing.... as far as we know those are EOL products being sold by a "division" of BlackBerry that is going out of business.

You are right Chen has very little say in what TCL does, and TCL will do what is best for TCL.... But I expect that TCL knows that things have been on a downhill slide for the BlackBerry brand... to get different results, something major has got to be done. Have to hop that pricing is just one of the "issues" that TCL plans to make adjustments too in order to turn around BlackBerry hardware sales. Pricing, Distribution, Marketing, Hardware "balance"....

BUT... watching the TCL presentation at CES (in hopes of something on BlackBerry)... I sure got the feeling that TCL is all about TCL.

[Chemy JMHT]

i think, this should be looked like this:

1) you take another CHINA (or so) based manufacturer with properly recognised brand in the west: Motorola.
2) You take phone, with similar specs which is already released - Moto Z Play
3) you add 50-100 on top of the price.

so what we get is ~500 $

Weird example, Motorola is from USA :/ was bought by Lenovo (China) a little more than 2 years ago only.

[nucks26]

I think the specs will be better than DTEK60 and that price is usually $650 US. I think we will be looking a higher price than DTEK60. I can't see TCL taking a plunge with the Press/Mercury unless it is better than the latest offering.

You my friend are out of the loop! Or you're dreaming.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

Weird example, Motorola is from USA :/ was bought by Lenovo (China) a little more than 2 years ago only.

2 years ago or 2 Months ago... what's the difference in how long a Chinese manufacturer has owned a Brand they want to exploit... I mean use?

The bigger flaw in his calculations is... the Z Play was launched almost six months ago. Trying to compare the retail price of a six month old phone to one that is only now about to be released... that's where things get a little tricky.

If you are going to play that game, why not pick the 625 powered Asus Zenfone 3 that was launched about nine months ago.... it's only $180 buck now, so with that means the Mercury could be $300 at launch.

We don't know what TCL will sell it for..... because we have no idea of TCL's commitment to the brand or to the US market in general. We played this game with the PRIV and we all know how that turned out.

[JMBasquiat]

Pricing needs to be aggressive

[krazyatom]

$499 is reasonable. If TCL is greedy, $599 lol.

[yessuz]

2 years ago or 2 Months ago... what's the difference in how long a Chinese manufacturer has owned a Brand they want to exploit... I mean use?

The bigger flaw in his calculations is... the Z Play was launched almost six months ago. Trying to compare the retail price of a six month old phone to one that is only now about to be released... that's where things get a little tricky.

If you are going to play that game, why not pick the 625 powered Asus Zenfone 3 that was launched about nine months ago.... it's only $180 buck now, so with that means the Mercury could be $300 at launch.

We don't know what TCL will sell it for..... because we have no idea of TCL's commitment to the brand or to the US market in general. We played this game with the PRIV and we all know how that turned out.

asus DOES NOT stand at the same shelf as Motorola as per brand recognition.

[u4ria]

Throwing my $0.02 into the hat.

My prediction is it'll be $549.99 minimum (unlocked, and direct from BlackBerry Mobile). Reasons:

- Unless there is another device in the pipeline that will be shown/announced at MWC, BlackBerry Mobile considers this device to be a flagship device. In the 10th Anniversary Podcast Episode 1, Steve Cistulli specifically mentions a flagship Android device (at the 22:56 mark) that is probably going to be the most exciting part of MWC
- TCL has to recoup at a minimum, their investment in making, marketing, and distributing the device
- BlackBerry has to get their cut of the pie as well (software, security, blah blah blah)
- Once again, they'll be emphasizing the "Enterprise" market, so it will be a lower volume and higher priced device
- If it's available through carriers then definitely expect it to be above the $400 mark since the carriers will subsidize the price to keep people on contract. Maybe $450 on a 2 year contract. Meanwhile, buying direct or unlocked will be probably $549.99 or even an outrageous $599.99. Don't be shocked if they actually price it that high.

Like everyone else, this is all just a guess since none of us has any idea.

[Carjackd]

Agreed, I feel the better camera sensor and physical keyboard add some extra value. Heck people were buying the Typo (aka BlackBerry rip-off) add on for their iPhones for $100.

Yep! Sounds right to me.

[kitmo]

Throwing my $0.02 into the hat.

My prediction is it'll be $549.99 minimum (unlocked, and direct from BlackBerry Mobile). Reasons:

- Unless there is another device in the pipeline that will be shown/announced at MWC, BlackBerry Mobile considers this device to be a flagship device. In the 10th Anniversary Podcast Episode 1, Steve Cistulli specifically mentions a flagship Android device (at the 22:56 mark) that is probably going to be the most exciting part of MWC
- TCL has to recoup at a minimum, their investment in making, marketing, and distributing the device
- BlackBerry has to get their cut of the pie as well (software, security, blah blah blah)
- Once again, they'll be emphasizing the "Enterprise" market, so it will be a lower volume and higher priced device
- If it's available through carriers then definitely expect it to be above the $400 mark since the carriers will subsidize the price to keep people on contract. Maybe $450 on a 2 year contract. Meanwhile, buying direct or unlocked will be probably $549.99 or even an outrageous $599.99. Don't be shocked if they actually price it that high.

Like everyone else, this is all just a guess since none of us has any idea.

I think your guess of $599 US is about right. That brings it close to my $800 Canadian guess.