[mnc76]

Only a loser would be embarrassed by something like this.

Then there are 10s of millions of former BlackBerry users that are "losers".

And I'm sure BlackBerry would LOVE to have every single one of those "losers" back with BlackBerry, because each one of those "losers" was CASH in BlackBerry's pocket.

Thank goodness BlackBerry's new management doesn't make business decisions based on which customers they think are"cool" and which they think are "losers"... Chen graduated from highschool a long time ago. LOL

Posted via CB10

[belfastdispatcher]

Blackberry hasn't actually lost as many customers as people will have you believe, they still have over 60 million subscribers, down from 80 million, the problem is they're not upgrading and my guess is because there's nothing to upgrade to, the Legacy lineup is 3 years old and barely available anymore.

Bringing back the Bold is actually no good to people that already had a Bold for 3 years.

I seriously hope they're gonna improve the Bolds they're bringing back.


#believeinfilm

[qbnkelt]

In my opinion, it was the fact they stayed with BBOS so long that made so few people care about BB10 when it finally did arrive.

It WASN'T moving away from BBOS that put BlackBerry in this position. It was STAYING with BBOS TOO LONG that put BlackBerry in this position.

BBOS, even in 2010, was already outdated (and was installed onto slow, under performing hardware with embarrassingly small screens) and this left users embarrassed to own a BlackBerry while their friends zipped around the Web with their comparatively lightning-speed iPhone's and Galaxy phones that had great graphics, video, and camera performance.

This embarrassment led to an anti-bb backlash that has never really gone away.

Posted via CB10

I left BlackBerry for my own reasons.

Embarrassment over what my friends own wasn't one. Middle school was over twenty years ago.

Posted from my awesome Q10 via CB10.

[mnc76]

I left BlackBerry for my own reasons.

Embarrassment over what my friends own wasn't one. Middle school was over twenty years ago.

Posted from my awesome Q10 via CB10.

Yeah I'm sure for "tech geeks" (no offence) who have the desire and opportunity to own one of each type of smartphone (like you own an Android, BB10, AND iOS device) it was no issue. But for most people who buy one phone and stick with it until their contract ends, the notion of "tech FOMO" (Fear Of Missing Out) is a psychological reality. It's pretty easy for companies to dismiss human nature if they don't "agree" with it, but it doesn't make it go away or make it subtract from their bottom lines any less.

Here is quote from Wikipedia:

Fear of missing out or FOMO is a form of social anxiety -- a compulsive concern that one might miss an opportunity for social interaction, a novel experience, profitable investment or other satisfying event. This is especially associated with modern technologies such as mobile phones and social networking services.

Smart companies use human nature to their advantage, they don't belittle it.

[afl777]

A huge proportion of mobile users are teens. Various ages of teens....but the magical years where one has to fit in, or forever be the outcast. Even the wrong phone will be a reason for constant ridicule. These teenagers are the ones who make a lot of things 'cult'....as they did with BBM....and now with Whatsapp. And as a phone goes out of the 'cool zone' most teenagers will follow.

[mnc76]

A huge proportion of mobile users are teens. Various ages of teens....but the magical years where one has to fit in, or forever be the outcast. Even the wrong phone will be a reason for constant ridicule. These teenagers are the ones who make a lot of things 'cult'....as they did with BBM....and now with Whatsapp. And as a phone goes out of the 'cool zone' most teenagers will follow.

It's not just teenagers. Many people in their 20s and even 30s (and possibly even older!) don't like to attend gatherings and hear about the stuff their friends have been doing/enjoying that they are unable to take part in.

Humans (of all ages) are social animals, and we typically don't like to feel "left out".

[afl777]

It's not just teenagers. Many people in their 20s and even 30s (and possibly even older!) don't like to attend gatherings and hear about the stuff their friends have been doing/enjoying that they are unable to take part in.

Humans (of all ages) are social animals, and we typically don't like to feel "left out".

I agree....that was just one age group example. Unfortunatly the strong minded amongst us find it hard to understand peer pressure, or feeling left out/ missing something.

I quite happily use whatever suits me, and leave others to what suits them

[mnc76]

I agree....that was just one age group example. Unfortunatly the strong minded amongst us find it hard to understand peer pressure, or feeling left out/ missing something.

I quite happily use whatever suits me, and leave others to what suits them

I think there are many "strong minded" people that -- at the same time -- don't enjoy feeling excluded from social events. It all depends on what social events one personally cares about. However, through evolution, we are all hardwired to be social to some extent since (historically) humans needed to work in groups to survive.

[lnichols]

Blackberry hasn't actually lost as many customers as people will have you believe, they still have over 60 million subscribers, down from 80 million, the problem is they're not upgrading and my guess is because there's nothing to upgrade to, the Legacy lineup is 3 years old and barely available anymore.

Bringing back the Bold is actually no good to people that already had a Bold for 3 years.

I seriously hope they're gonna improve the Bolds they're bringing back.


#believeinfilm

Their is a bunch if churn in that 60 million number. So they likely added 40 to 50+ Million in emerging markets, and lost 20 to 30 Million + in established markets. I wouldn't hold up hope for anything other than a copy of the Bold with the same approved OS. BlackBerry is doing this as a stopgap and will want to have this device be as cheap to bring to market as possible. They are still hoping that BES12, and Q20 are the actual fix.

Posted via CB10

[kbz1960]

Blackberry hasn't actually lost as many customers as people will have you believe, they still have over 60 million subscribers, down from 80 million, the problem is they're not upgrading and my guess is because there's nothing to upgrade to, the Legacy lineup is 3 years old and barely available anymore.

Bringing back the Bold is actually no good to people that already had a Bold for 3 years.

I seriously hope they're gonna improve the Bolds they're bringing back.


#believeinfilm

So that still means they are aren't gaining customers, they are in a hold pattern?

[RubberChicken76]

Blackberry hasn't actually lost as many customers as people will have you believe, they still have over 60 million subscribers, down from 80 million

I agree it's not as bad as is sometimes implied, particularly in the media. But it's not as simple as this either. They reported the number that were active at one time (which peaked at 80 million), which is not the same as people who were ever active BlackBerry customers. That number is likely well over 100 million but only they know. To give the US example again, if they lost 17 million customers just in the US from their peak ownership time, how many have been lost in other markets as well?

I seriously hope they're gonna improve the Bolds they're bringing back.

I doubt they will. It has all the ear-marks of shorting up cash because there's demand for replacement devices. I bet it's the exact same 9900, made more inexpensively and sold because someone has an order for them.

[belfastdispatcher]

For the record, I don't expect miracles, but I do hope they improve a few things like battery, camera, ram memory etc, not drastic enough to need new FIPS but something.

Later OS versions + battery saving mode meant much better battery life on that tiny tiny battery, if they double it they're onto a winner.


#believeinfilm

[belfastdispatcher]

So that still means they are aren't gaining customers, they are in a hold pattern?

They stopped gaining customers at around the same time BB10 launched. The very first quarter with BB10 on the market the subscriber numbers started going down.


#believeinfilm

[belfastdispatcher]

Their is a bunch if churn in that 60 million number. So they likely added 40 to 50+ Million in emerging markets, and lost 20 to 30 Million + in established markets. I wouldn't hold up hope for anything other than a copy of the Bold with the same approved OS. BlackBerry is doing this as a stopgap and will want to have this device be as cheap to bring to market as possible. They are still hoping that BES12, and Q20 are the actual fix.

Posted via CB10

30% of revenue still comes from North America alone so they seem to keep hold of some customers in established markets regardless.


#believeinfilm

[CHIP72]

They stopped gaining customers at around the same time BB10 launched. The very first quarter with BB10 on the market the subscriber numbers started going down.

#believeinfilm

But Blackberry was losing customers in "developed economies", the ones that lead smartphone adoption trends globally, long before BB10 was launched.


Sent from my iPhone using CB Forums mobile app

[belfastdispatcher]

But Blackberry was losing customers in "developed economies", the ones that lead smartphone adoption trends globally, long before BB10 was launched.


Sent from my iPhone using CB Forums mobile app

That could be true but that doesn't negate what I said

Besides, let's give other companies some credit for the smartphone adoption, companies that were far more advanced and full of features then BB ever were: Nokia, Palm, Windows Mobile etc


#believeinfilm

[Soulstream]

My 2 cents for this. My dad owned a Bold (I don't know the exact version) and before that some other BB phone. About 5-6 years ago, I had some crappy (and cheap) Nokia feature phone and was amazed by what my dad's phone was capable of doing. But times have changed. Last week I bought my dad a Q10 and is really happy about it.

In my circle of friends I had 5 people who had BBOS phones and all of them switched to other platforms. Why? Because not one of them knew about BB10 phones; maybe that is not the main reason, but it didn't even occur to them to try another blackberry. 2 of them are on iPhones, 2 on Samsung and 1 on an HTC. None of them want to ever go back to a qwerty phone.

I think there are 2 ways of making real profit in mobile handsets:
1. sell at a premium price (the Apple way)
2. sell lot's and lots and lots of phones (the Samsung way)
Other OEMs aren't exactly getting large profits (if any).

BB can't do either right now. I too consider this measure as a stop gap until BB becomes profitable. As a programmer, I know what it means to work on an outdated software. I like to compare OS7 with Windows XP. It was good at the time and is still usable, but is very outdated technologically. As a programmer I want to smash the keyboard if I have to do some low-level programming for Windows XP, it's just that bad.

[Superfly_FR]

For the record, I don't expect miracles, but I do hope they improve a few things like battery, camera, ram memory etc, not drastic enough to need new FIPS but something.
#believeinfilm

Sorry, but nope, you'll get either exact same existing 9900 or 9720 depending on your location.
http://forums.crackberry.com/news-ru...uction-922112/
After you've read this, you may consider that "we" might be only half crazy

In short :
=> This is a one shot temporary measure (re-issuing devices) until BES12 and the Classic comes (simultaneously) . BBOS support terms are still unchanged : will still be supported "forever", with minor updates/corrections/optimizations, but no evolution.

I know you won't like that much, but hey ... I'm just the postman here.

[coldRooster]

Blackberry hasn't actually lost as many customers as people will have you believe, they still have over 60 million subscribers, down from 80 million, the problem is they're not upgrading and my guess is because there's nothing to upgrade to, the Legacy lineup is 3 years old and barely available anymore.

Bringing back the Bold is actually no good to people that already had a Bold for 3 years.

I seriously hope they're gonna improve the Bolds they're bringing back.


#believeinfilm

Just because they're not down a lot doesn't mean that's a good thing. Their user base is tiny compared to others.

Posted via the Android CrackBerry App!

[lnichols]

30% of revenue still comes from North America alone so they seem to keep hold of some customers in established markets regardless.


#believeinfilm

Government and big business. I just saw the green light for BB10 but they are having the individual groups pay for the BB10 devices, not doing a centrally funded replacement program of existing devices. If only they allowed Balance I would have signed up to use my personal device.

Posted via CB10

[belfastdispatcher]

Sorry, but nope, you'll get either exact same existing 9900 or 9720 depending on your location.
http://forums.crackberry.com/news-ru...uction-922112/
After you've read this, you may consider that "we" might be only half crazy

In short :
=> This is a one shot temporary measure (re-issuing devices) until BES12 and the Classic comes (simultaneously) . BBOS support terms are still unchanged : will still be supported "forever", with minor updates/corrections/optimizations, but no evolution.

I know you won't like that much, but hey ... I'm just the postman here.

I think I'll just wait and see



#believeinfilm

[Superfly_FR]

I know you can be wise

[RubberChicken76]

30% of revenue still comes from North America alone so they seem to keep hold of some customers in established markets regardless.


#believeinfilm

Strangely the us has actually been flat or fairly flat the last few months in terms of users so I suspect you're right here. They did decline in market share again in January but the whole market grew. They may have generally bottomed out finally here

Posted via CB10

[SmellWhole]

Yeah I'm sure for "tech geeks" (no offence) who have the desire and opportunity to own one of each type of smartphone (like you own an Android, BB10, AND iOS device) it was no issue. But for most people who buy one phone and stick with it until their contract ends, the notion of "tech FOMO" (Fear Of Missing Out) is a psychological reality. It's pretty easy for companies to dismiss human nature if they don't "agree" with it, but it doesn't make it go away or make it subtract from their bottom lines any less.

Here is quote from Wikipedia:



Smart companies use human nature to their advantage, they don't belittle it.

A huge proportion of mobile users are teens. Various ages of teens....but the magical years where one has to fit in, or forever be the outcast. Even the wrong phone will be a reason for constant ridicule. These teenagers are the ones who make a lot of things 'cult'....as they did with BBM....and now with Whatsapp. And as a phone goes out of the 'cool zone' most teenagers will follow.

It's not just teenagers. Many people in their 20s and even 30s (and possibly even older!) don't like to attend gatherings and hear about the stuff their friends have been doing/enjoying that they are unable to take part in.

Humans (of all ages) are social animals, and we typically don't like to feel "left out".

People like that are pathetic.

[mnc76]

People like that are pathetic.

Thanks for your important contribution to the discussion lol

Posted via CB10