[Jerry A]

Mac OS X is very much a mainstream, consumer platform. Walk into any starbucks and if it's busy, you will likely see not just one but multiple Mac laptops.
Remember, when you see marketshare numbers, that is total device sales of that OS. So for windows, every cash register in the super market checkout line , every PC in every office cubicle etc gets counted for Windows. Those are all really ''niche'' markets. Windows actually fills a lot more ''niche'' markets that OS X does.
However, the marketshare among the computers people buy themselves, truly ''personal computers'', Apple does very well and certainly can't be called a niche at all anymore.
One more thing is that a study was done a few years ago showing that everytime someone bought a Mac that was a former windows user, MS lost not one but two Windows sales. Due to the high cost and relatively high quality, Mac resale value is high and they gets used for a long time and remember, ''marketshare'' refers to sales, which is different than installed base. Also, that 13% was only for sales that one quarter.
When I first got a Mac, I knew no one else with one. Now probably a quarter of the people I know own one. That's a huge increase.


Posted via CB10

So, I gave you hard sales numbers and market percentages and you reply with personal observations?

Isn't that the definition of confirmation bias?

I'm a Mac user too, so I apologize if I've given off an anti-Mac vibe.

[dale-c]

I remember seeing quite a few television commercials after the launch of the Z10.

I must not watch enough TV. I never saw anything after the Super Bowl.

Posted via CB10

[dale-c]

So, I gave you hard sales numbers and market percentages and you reply with personal observations?

Isn't that the definition of confirmation bias?

I'm a Mac user too, so I apologize if I've given off an anti-Mac vibe.

No, I am saying that those numbers include every sale of Windows. There are hard numbers that only include personal sales and Apple ranks much higher.

Posted via CB10

[dale-c]

But you are right, we seem to have a different idea of what a niche is. I thought Apple was a niche player when they were mostly purchased by certain professions and educational customers. Now they are purchased by people of all walks of life, meaning there is no ''niche'' just general customers.

Posted via CB10

[dale-c]

I should add that BlackBerry is in fact a niche player. My only contention is that their niche could be 5 times bigger than it is. Their niche should be 8-10 % of the market.

Posted via CB10

[kobnyc]

At an Applebee's in the 'burbs last night. AT&T PP on the table. Server comes by, comments on my BlackBerry after she sees me on the touchscreen... 'I didn't know BlackBerry made touch screen phones. Is that an old (yes, she said that...) one?'... need I say more...?

Posted via CB10

[hpjrt]

The Passport is definitely NOT too big for a woman. I'm a woman and have had my Passport since launch. I love it! Lots of women comment on how beautiful my Passport is.

Posted from my BlackBerry Passport

[dale-c]

The Passport is definitely NOT too big for a woman. I'm a woman and have had my Passport since launch. I love it! Lots of women comment on how beautiful my Passport is.

Posted from my BlackBerry Passport

There certainly are women who do like them.

Posted via CB10

[Rob Melanson]

In my experience, as manufacturers start to focus on aesthetics, popularity and large volume sales, proprietary technologies commonly emerge to lock buyers in while the functional quality of their devices becomes secondary. I'm not even going to talk about the labour issues (and abuses) that go with huge volume sales. One of the things I love most about my BlackBerry is that it remains true to its focus and identity regardless of the short term cost. The things that people complain about most are the same things that make BlackBerry great. More apps don't make a device better, the right number of really good apps do. Keeping the functional essence of BlackBerry OS alive while increasing secured compatibility with android apps and other systems through BlackBerry blend is a great strategy. As for who buys BlackBerry, it's for the corporate elite who need the reliability and security and those in the general public who know and appreciate what it can do for them.

Posted via CB10

[southlander]

At an Applebee's in the 'burbs last night. AT&T PP on the table. Server comes by, comments on my BlackBerry after she sees me on the touchscreen... 'I didn't know BlackBerry made touch screen phones. Is that an old (yes, she said that...) one?'... need I say more...?

Posted via CB10

Talk is talk. Buying one is altogether a different thing.

PassportSQW100-1/10.3.2.2339

[LiteBulb]

Do a tie up with network providers to have a section in their stores. Then place a BlackBerry rep to demo and educate. This should generate awareness AND experience.

The BlackBerry mobile truck was a great idea. Utilise that in hotspot locations to promote experience.

There is no point promoting BlackBerry as people are associating the brand with obsolete tech. To change that perception, will need to market bb10 experience to the masses, and this could only be done thru hands-on approach. Not product advertisements, not reviews.

[Tracey S1]

One of my son's has a Note5 his wife has a Galaxy S6 and her mother has an iphone 6.
My other son and his wife have BBLeap each and mine is a Passport.
Four out of five of us can use the same charger and the iPhone user is all alone in our family.
By looking at it I really can't tell the difference between the iphone and the Galaxy 6.
Two people in my office with other phone carry a Tablet and a phone I just carry my Passport.
As Jerry A said the Passport is for people with a real need for its use and not for everyone.
Rolex watches are not advertised in the popular papers but in the papers with less circulation.
Only simpler way to sell more of the Passports, in my opinion, is to pay a small bonus to the sales boys and girls in the carriers own stores. They are the ones not pushing it hard enough or talking people out of buying BlackBerry devices?


Posted via CB10

[sorinv]

I totally agree with you. I recently bought a MacBook 12 inch with retina display.
Other than the bigger screen and the ability to run X-windows and log in remotely across the world to my linux/unix office computers, my Passport is as or more productive (the file manager and typing emails are definitely better on the Passport).
I do not have any apps on the Mac. I did not find I was missing any.

On the Passport I have no android apps. I have plenty of native BlackBerry apps but the browser does everything in desktop mode that the Mac Safari or Firefox browsers do, including livestreaming TV stations from across the world while I am staying for 4 months in Japan. With the Passport I also use an externa HDMI l monitor in situations where I need a large screen (to watch TV).

Nobody knows the Passport exists because BlackBerry does not advertise on TV or at least in the carrier stores. Not even in Canada.
Chen has no intention of selling phones.

Nobody, not even Apple or Samsung, can sell a large number of phones if they do not advertise and spend huge amounts of cash to convince the carriers to push their phones.

It's actually surprising that Z30 and Passport are selling in millions given that even BlackBerry made stupid announcements (like: company is for sale when z30 came out, or the leak with Android running Venice and Passport now) that undermined peoples' confidence in BlackBerry and in BB10.

[deadcowboy]

I was at the airport in Coppenhagen recently, and when I was showing my ticket PDF to check my luggage, the airline guy was surprised and said: "is this a BlackBerry!? When did this come out?"

He was very impressed with the og Passport, but he had no idea it even existed.

Posted via CB10

[menshawy]

BlackBerry has its marketing channels that we consumers are not happening to be in them.

It's sad that they are not visibly marketing for consumers, because definitely they would sell more units, but probably not more enough to cover the marketing costs