[ce71]

Everybody was bashing the passport before its launch... people said it was ugly, too big, weird, etc... Plus there was that catastrophic fail with a huge amount of inventory of Z10s and Q10s unsold, and costing tones of money to blackberry

So Blackberry didn't expect to seel many of those, they aimed at the professionals. So to be safe, they made a conservative number of passports.

Then the Passport was launched, it blowed everybody's mind, the device in real life was actualy very sleek, very well build, and had great features, everybody now want one, but there aren't many built.

So deal with it.

I should deal with it? Oh, I will. But, other people won't. Meaning - lost revenue. If you're a business and you just let a sure sale walk out the door - you failed. Every day that passes with no Passport, BB loses money from those on the fence deciding to go with a different device. So, your real message should be for BB to deal with it, because they're the ones losing out.

[bobshine]

They probably had much more than 200k for sale! Cause a bunch of them went to carriers and also there are a series of launches coming out that they have to supply. I am guessing the initial stock might be maybe 300k but with something like another 200K on the way.

The success is probably way more than what they expected.

I think they should had taking orders maybe a bit before launch, like a week or two... so it gives them an idea of the demand.

But beside that, they did the right thing not to overstock. You say they can't afford to make a mistake... yeah you are right, they can afford to make a mistake and overstock. that would be even worse!

Posted via CB10

[rwestiv]

I'm in the 'Frustrated with Amazon ' camp and can certainly sympathize with some of the above posts.

What is really causing significant heartburn is the lack of communication and the inconsistency of the delivery channels. As mentioned before we've heard NOTHING from either BlackBerry or Amazon. ShopBB has been shipping them to people who ordered them many days after launch day...Amazon not so much. In fact, I am curious if Amazon has shipped any since the launch day orders were taken.

Anybody on this site is very aware of the previous disaster of the Z10.

However like so many companies before them, it seems Blackberry has learned from history to make the opposite mistake.

That being said, I'm going to patiently wait for my PP. Hopefully it will have shipped by the time I get home in two weeks.

GBA

[ce71]

I'm in the 'Frustrated with Amazon ' camp and can certainly sympathize with some of the above posts.

What is really causing significant heartburn is the lack of communication and the inconsistency of the delivery channels. As mentioned before we've heard NOTHING from either BlackBerry or Amazon. ShopBB has been shipping them to people who ordered them many days after launch day...Amazon not so much. In fact, I am curious if Amazon has shipped any since the launch day orders were taken.

Anybody on this site is very aware of the previous disaster of the Z10.

However like so many companies before them, it seems Blackberry has learned from history to make the opposite mistake.

That being said, I'm going to patiently wait for my PP. Hopefully it will have shipped by the time I get home in two weeks.

GBA

That's exactly my point - it's the lack of communication. We're completely in the dark. I have no clue when this passport will come. Tomorrow? Next week? Next month???

[knighty2112]

Ten day wait? That's nothing! I ordered an Ipad Air from my carrier O2 in the UK and had to wait 3 weeks till I eventually got it!

; )

Z10.......er......BlackDroid in action!

[rwestiv]

Ipad?!

Get him!!!!

Blackdroid, I kind of like that.

GBA

[bobshine]

Reading from all the frustration here... BlackBerry has done something really well. people seems to really want the Passport.. or else this thread wouldn't exist! To the point where it had only been out a couple of weeks... look at Apple and how long it takes for them to ship their IPhones or iPads sometime! we're talking about maybe half the time

Posted via CB10

[knighty2112]

Ipad?!

Get him!!!!

Blackdroid, I kind of like that.

GBA

In my defence I also have a BlackBerry PlayBook, so Apple is still outnumbered in my home by BlackBerry by two to one! Hehe!

Z10.......er......BlackDroid in action!

[rwestiv]

Ok then, crisis averted...call off the dogs.

:-p

[Allgoodnicknamesaretaken]

I wonder what their production capacity is. I read that Apple makes 500,000 new iPhones per day (well, its sub-contractors makes them anyway) So, how many passports can BB make a day? 5,000? 10,000? 50,000? The demand for these things is huge, and I know that I'm on a (more or less) first come, first served amazon waiting list. I fully expect it to take at least 2-3 weeks for my order to be filled. I'm pretty sure that amazon will be able to get me a phone before AT&T will. And if not, I'll just cancel it and go with AT&T.

[SaHu]

I should deal with it? Oh, I will. But, other people won't. Meaning - lost revenue. If you're a business and you just let a sure sale walk out the door - you failed. Every day that passes with no Passport, BB loses money from those on the fence deciding to go with a different device. So, your real message should be for BB to deal with it, because they're the ones losing out.

Not exactly... if their goal was to make as much as possible (screw the risk) then yeah, you would have been right.

But I think their goal was to make some money while limiting their potential for loss. If they had produced a lot and it didn't sell, the company could have folded. With the strategy they have taken, they will miss out on some sales, sure, but they will have surpassed their targets. i.e., mission accomplished - Good Job!

And if you think it is so easy to just produce another few hundred thousand in a few days... well, the worse thing would be to have the quality plummet if they cut corners to get more produced.

[nycspaces.]

if you watched JC do the launch it was pretty clear he didn't have a LOT of faith in Passport. Perhaps he ordered conservatively thinking the Classic is where he's going to actually get some traction but this is a total screw up. Not only is BBRY missing out on sales, they are pissing off their customer base by using Digital River and their incompetent order and fulfillment systems. Many will give up on Passport and buy a competitor, many will just wait it out and have a sour taste for their BBRY experience, either way it is alienating both the loyal and potential switching user base.

Poor execution is what BBRY can not afford, if they had ordered a 100,000 or so more phones they would have been able to support a longer sales cycle if Passport was a flop - but provisioning as tightly as it seems they have - they have blown their sales for a quarter when they could have been much stronger. This is actually supply chain mismanagement not any genius play for marketing or creating demand...it might be acceptable if the consumer was told, order now for October 15th delivery, or anything representing basic customer service. Outsourcing the sales to an incompetent fulfilment operation is the real sin here. It's actually more about the execution, communications and managing expectations than selling hardware.

[dcwbearsaint]

All I have to say is thank you Chen for at least giving us the opportunity to get a Passport before the carriers jump on the band wagon. Whether or not we were fast to the trigger or not we all at least had an opportunity.

Many thanks

Posted via CB10 on the awesome Passport

[dbmalloy]

Would rather see supply chain issues now... then a dead company later....

[boss_hog]

They should open up orders and give a backorder notice with an estimated ship date 2-4 weeks something

Posted via CB10

[D3C0D3R]

Would rather see supply chain issues now... then a dead company later....

Ditto there sir

Praise be unto our Lord Squircle | Passport SQW100-1/10.3.0.1154

[rajbir01]

You don't just stock the passport and have more inventory then you can sell. You replenish once it's sold out and it's better for them to do that. Not BlackBerry fault that you're too slow to purchase when it was in stock on their site.

Posted via CB10

[b121]

So, I'm a troll because I want a Passport and I feel that BB dropped the ball on this?

I think your OP was extremely fair and in no way trolling. (I'm, unfortunately, in the VZW camp).

I hope blackberry reads this thread and provides more open communication to not loose potential revenue and new customers.

The logical explanation is as others have suggested... they underestimated the launch demand and it took/is taking time for their manufacturer to free up capacity (and/or they are managing the cost of expediting orders).

What I can't yet figure out is why they are launching in new countries if the back order volume is still high. I can only assume the stock was already produced with country specific keyboards or at different production facilities making shipping to North American not feasible.

Hopefully they get this figured out soon and demand stays strong all quarter (and a VZW version is launched soon. ).




Posted via CB10

[jojo beaconsfield]

I placed my order on Amazon US two days after the launch. It was back ordered at first, but shipped last week and has now arrived at my sister's. So hang in there, you can get them, they just need to do a large production run (which takes time).

Posted via CB10 on Z10

everybody has to realize, like the rep told me, that it will be shipped in a reasonable amount of time,DAH!!!!!!!! It's all good,because reasonably we will be rewarded Big Time ,I just go to the local pub and fondle my Bar Buddies Passport in the mean time.Relax,lol

[jchavealot]

It's called high demand! Patience is a vertue!

[VIP30]

Just when I think BB turned the corner, they never fail to disappoint.

I tried time after time to purchase a Passport on BB's web site, but the "Buy" button was never visible. I also signed up for the "Notify me when back in stock" notification under several email accounts - never heard a peep. Eventually, I purchased a backordered Passport through Amazon.

A few days passed. Then a week. This Friday, it will be two weeks.

All this time, no email from BB or from Amazon. Therefore, I'm left sitting here wondering - was BB really this stupid? Could they have launched a new product with only 200,000 items??? Or, is this part of some half-brained marketing scheme? Why am I wondering this? Because nobody has contacted me and told me anything. Not even a generic "Thanks for ordering - we hope to have your shipment by ___ date" email. I'm serious, I'm completely dumbfounded. I can't honestly believe they were this stupid to not have more items available for consumers to purchase. Every day that passes, I think of other ways I could spend my $600 if I cancel my order.

Call it whatever you want - but 10 days in and you can't provide a product to a paid customer or you don't even reach out with an information update? That's called a failure.

Just wondering, what's the phone that you currently using?

STL100-1 / 10.3.0.1154 / 2100mAh

[jojo beaconsfield]

All I have to say is thank you Chen for at least giving us the opportunity to get a Passport before the carriers jump on the band wagon. Whether or not we were fast to the trigger or not we all at least had an opportunity.

Many thanks

Posted via CB10 on the awesome Passport

That sounds really good but don't give up,and be Patient,lol, within reason of course,hahaha

[Bluenoser63]

OP: What did you want? Did you want to have Blackberry make millions of the phones and not have them sell? Having to write them down the product and losing hundreds of millions of items? That was tried before and how did that work out? I had to wait 4 months to get the car that I wanted as it had to be built and shipped from Japan. It was more than 600 dollars. Do people need to had so much instant gratification that if it takes 2 or 3 weeks that they freak out.

[VIP30]

It's 600 quid of excitement!

STL100-1 / 10.3.0.1154 / 2100mAh

[ce71]

Just wondering, what's the phone that you currently using?

STL100-1 / 10.3.0.1154 / 2100mAh

I have a Bold 9870, Q10, Z10, and my daily driver is a Z30.