1. DueNorthBB's Avatar
    BlackBerry brand hasn't been considered "cheap". So for those people whining about the cost of the Priv, this is not your time to buy it (if ever).

    Apple even on the brink of bankruptcy in the past didn't drop the price of their Macs to be cheap in order to become "mainstream". They kept (and continue to keep) their premium pricing. They rather go under then tarnish their brand.

    Why don't they do it? Because once a brand is considered budget, it will be very hard to raise it back. It is easy to lower prices and race to the floor, but it is hard to raise to be profitable.

    That is why Lexus will ALWAYS be priced higher than a comparable Toyota even though they share common components.

    You don't see government officials showing off their HTC or LG phones. You don't see Fortune 500 CEOs flaunting their Xiaomi phone.

    BlackBerry have Porsche design variants of their phones. You don't see that with LG, HTC or many other Android manufacturer.

    So why does the BlackBerry Android phone priced as high or higher than comparable Android phone? It is because it is a BlackBerry.
    10-23-15 03:04 PM
  2. Deanig_12's Avatar
    BlackBerry brand hasn't been considered "cheap". So for those people whining about the cost of the Priv, this is not your time to buy it (if ever).

    Apple even on the brink of bankruptcy in the past didn't drop the price of their Macs to be cheap in order to become "mainstream". They kept (and continue to keep) their premium pricing. They rather go under then tarnish their brand.

    Why don't they do it? Because once a brand is considered budget, it will be very hard to raise it back. It is easy to lower prices and race to the floor, but it is hard to raise to be profitable.

    That is why Lexus will ALWAYS be priced higher than a comparable Toyota even though they share common components.

    You don't see government officials showing off their HTC or LG phones. You don't see Fortune 500 CEOs flaunting their Xiaomi phone.

    BlackBerry have Porsche design variants of their phones. You don't see that with LG, HTC or many other Android manufacturer.

    So why does the BlackBerry Android phone priced as high or higher than comparable Android phone? It is because it is a BlackBerry.
    agree!!
    TERDIE likes this.
    10-23-15 03:13 PM
  3. 6stringriffs's Avatar
    In addition, the differentiating factor with this phone is the claimed Security & Privacy features it offers (nevermind the keyboard for a moment) on an Android device. The only other android device that claims the same security has their device priced at freakin' $800 USD! (See Blackphone 2). Yes there is another brand for the same price & security claims but the name escapes me at the moment.

    We'll see if the security & privacy will live up to it's billing. But those kinda features do not come cheap in terms of the programming/development. Intellectual labor ain't cheap! This is ain't like doing to 'touchwiz' or 'sense'.

    And those cheaper phones, Xiaomi, 1 plus2, etc are from mainland China. If history is any guide, you know cheap chinese products have quality control problems, at least in the beginning until they're called out and they correct them. Too soon to tell right now, but we'll see 6 months from now.

    I just wish for that price the slider came in the new Android OS 6.0.
    TERDIE likes this.
    10-23-15 03:14 PM
  4. masterscarhead1's Avatar
    Unless cheap is a variable, your title would give a compiling error
    If it is a variable, you would need to first define it
    Something like this would make more sense:

    if (BlackBerry.isEqualTo("Cheap")) {
    EndOfTheWorld();
    }

    10-23-15 03:20 PM
  5. laid-back's Avatar
    yes, except BB now is on the brink of shutting hardware operations with a very tiny market share. lowering the prices doesn't mean selling the phone for $ 100, it simply means making it competitive and just a bit cheaper the other flagship phones in order to capture market shares while there is a buzz around it.
    If i were to buy a Lexus, and i knew the company is about to disappear from the market, i would probably think twice about it and end up buying another luxury car that happens to be a bit cheaper!
    1oo1, jdesignz and kbz1960 like this.
    10-23-15 03:24 PM
  6. kbz1960's Avatar
    Pffft
    10-23-15 03:31 PM
  7. Adam Frix's Avatar
    yes, except BB now is on the brink of shutting hardware operations with a very tiny market share. lowering the prices doesn't mean selling the phone for $ 100, it simply means making it competitive and just a bit cheaper the other flagship phones in order to capture market shares while there is a buzz around it.
    If i were to buy a Lexus, and i knew the company is about to disappear from the market, i would probably think twice about it and end up buying another luxury car that happens to be a bit cheaper!
    Exactly.

    I have to believe that whatever money I spend on a Priv, will be money thrown down a hole. Oh, the phone will be usable for some time. But it may never be updated, and--absent any real world experience--it may not be able, for whatever reason, to allow use of some Play Store apps. For instance, I love SwiftKey. Can I install that and use it instead of whatever screen keyboard BB has decided on, or have they locked that out?

    BB has tweaked their Android enough so that this is a question for a lot of apps. Until people buy and start using this, we won't know what works and what doesn't.

    And I'm not at all expecting that every Play Store app will work without exception.
    10-23-15 03:36 PM
  8. brookie229's Avatar
    For instance, I love SwiftKey. Can I install that and use it instead of whatever screen keyboard BB has decided on, or have they locked that out?
    If you love Swiftkey then you are going to love the keyboard on this phone. Guaranteed!
    10-23-15 03:41 PM
  9. crackbb10's Avatar
    BlackBerry brand hasn't been considered "cheap". So for those people whining about the cost of the Priv, this is not your time to buy it (if ever).

    Apple even on the brink of bankruptcy in the past didn't drop the price of their Macs to be cheap in order to become "mainstream". They kept (and continue to keep) their premium pricing. They rather go under then tarnish their brand.

    Why don't they do it? Because once a brand is considered budget, it will be very hard to raise it back. It is easy to lower prices and race to the floor, but it is hard to raise to be profitable.

    That is why Lexus will ALWAYS be priced higher than a comparable Toyota even though they share common components.

    You don't see government officials showing off their HTC or LG phones. You don't see Fortune 500 CEOs flaunting their Xiaomi phone.

    BlackBerry have Porsche design variants of their phones. You don't see that with LG, HTC or many other Android manufacturer.

    So why does the BlackBerry Android phone priced as high or higher than comparable Android phone? It is because it is a BlackBerry.
    Thank you!
    10-23-15 03:45 PM
  10. tp2386's Avatar
    Thanks for this post. I didn't really think about that way. That being said, I'm still waiting on a price drop, or a coupon of some sort before I purchase.

    Posted via CB10
    10-23-15 03:49 PM
  11. crackbb10's Avatar
    yes, except BB now is on the brink of shutting hardware operations with a very tiny market share. lowering the prices doesn't mean selling the phone for $ 100, it simply means making it competitive and just a bit cheaper the other flagship phones in order to capture market shares while there is a buzz around it.
    If i were to buy a Lexus, and i knew the company is about to disappear from the market, i would probably think twice about it and end up buying another luxury car that happens to be a bit cheaper!
    I agree. SE pricing is also premium. Definitely not cheap, but not too expensive either. I need to see the actual � price before I'll be able to have a good say about it.
    10-23-15 03:50 PM
  12. Iggy City's Avatar
    Lol, this is how Apple users justify the cost of their devices.


    ...except BlackBerry is no where near in the same class as Apple devices. imo, these prices are setting up for another botched launch. But we'll see.
    10-23-15 03:58 PM
  13. chenageddon's Avatar
    BlackBerry != cheap but if (BlackBerry != good) then does BlackBerry == nil?
    DueNorthBB likes this.
    10-23-15 04:03 PM
  14. DueNorthBB's Avatar
    yes, except BB now is on the brink of shutting hardware operations with a very tiny market share. lowering the prices doesn't mean selling the phone for $ 100, it simply means making it competitive and just a bit cheaper the other flagship phones in order to capture market shares while there is a buzz around it.
    If i were to buy a Lexus, and i knew the company is about to disappear from the market, i would probably think twice about it and end up buying another luxury car that happens to be a bit cheaper!
    Given there is probably a supply constraint right now (by just having small production batches), there is no real benefit of having lower prices. It isn't like they will be able to "capture" much of a marketplace with such low volume.

    My guess is Chen doesn't want to make it more riskier than what it is now (new OS/direction). He doesn't know many will sell and doesn't want another Z10 situation. It is a "soft" launch now because putting $ into marketing when there is hardly any product to sell is stupid. Think about the Z10 Super Bowl ad... even the early BB10 OS. By having a smaller launch, they can "fix" issues (likely software based) before doing a harder push mainstream.

    Oh, in a car collecting world, the last run of a luxury vehicle will probably sell out.
    10-23-15 04:12 PM
  15. DolemiteDONS's Avatar
    I don't understand all the hostility over the price. No one is required to buy it out of the gate. As with TVs and cars, the price will decrease as the weeks pass. So if your budget is tight, feel free to wait a bit to make a purchase. It's not a crisis, it's simply a choice.

    * from what I read, the price is what was expected. So it's two things I fail to understand the wave of complaints. Although 90% of the posts here are filled with anger so not truly surprising I suppose?
    10-23-15 04:18 PM
  16. ToniCipriani's Avatar
    It's honestly not that overpriced. I've mentioned a few times around. I use the baseline, LG G4, which is the closest to spec with the Priv.

    LG G4 launched at 599 4 months back, and now the Priv at 699. For 100 more you get the dual curved screen, touch sensitive keyboard and security enhancements, and same specs. It's completely fair. Gap is bigger now because of discounts on the G4, but I'm sure those are coming very soon once it launches at more places. If you can milk the first batch, why not? Charge as much as market can bear.

    As for the Canadian 699 vs 899 for the same comparison... well that's more on the Canadian Dollar, oil prices and Stephen Harper.
    10-23-15 04:20 PM
  17. app_Developer's Avatar
    BlackBerry brand hasn't been considered "cheap".
    What you're saying used to be true many years ago. But then they went down market with the curve, and that became the bulk of their sales for a couple of years.

    Look at their current ASP. It's low. For many people, BlackBerry is the economical option. Now they have to change that to go back upmarket. That's not an easy shift for any company.
    Elephant_Canyon likes this.
    10-23-15 04:20 PM
  18. masterscarhead1's Avatar
    BlackBerry != cheap but if (BlackBerry != good) then does BlackBerry == nil?
    You mean BlackBerry == null?
    It depends what type your variable BlackBerry is :P
    If it's a boolean, then it can't be
    DueNorthBB likes this.
    10-23-15 04:21 PM
  19. Adam Frix's Avatar
    If you love Swiftkey then you are going to love the keyboard on this phone. Guaranteed!
    Oh, trust me, one of the reasons I'm considering it is so I can have my beloved BB pkb back. I had old legacy units for many years, thanks to my employer, and they did exactly what I needed them to do--and the pkb was a crucial component of that.

    Screen keyboards suck. Period. I don't care what the iboi crowd thinks of their particular brand of kool-aid, it sucks that the iThing popularized the concept of screen keyboards.
    DolemiteDONS likes this.
    10-23-15 04:30 PM
  20. will308's Avatar
    Lol, this is how Apple users justify the cost of their devices.


    ...except BlackBerry is no where near in the same class as Apple devices. imo, these prices are setting up for another botched launch. But we'll see.
    now see I'm more than happy to pay the price for the priv..........but I wouldn't want a iPhone even if it was for free they are as common as muck every tom,**** and harry has one ...imo
    MdRoberts40, z3user and Deanig_12 like this.
    10-23-15 05:10 PM
  21. garryville's Avatar
    apple made and toy ipod for kids and now the kids are growing up and have same toy called the iPhone. It just worked out to be good marketing, BB does not have a growing market, they have grown up, BB are the no-name Cola competing with Coke and Pepsi
    10-23-15 08:38 PM
  22. chevpower394's Avatar
    Unless cheap is a variable, your title would give a compiling error
    If it is a variable, you would need to first define it
    Something like this would make more sense:

    if (BlackBerry.isEqualTo("Cheap")) {
    EndOfTheWorld();
    }

    You're assuming cheap is part of an ENUM type as well as BlackBerry (and thus should be all caps)

    Using a string to define this would be absurd, both are silly

    If we're talking native c++

    Posted via CB10
    10-24-15 12:32 AM
  23. luisoman2000's Avatar
    In its current state, blackberry cant afford to go the premium route. They need to sell privs by the millions. Pricing doesnt look so bad though, so they might actually pull it off
    10-24-15 12:44 AM
  24. thurask's Avatar
    Unless cheap is a variable, your title would give a compiling error
    If it is a variable, you would need to first define it
    Something like this would make more sense:

    if (BlackBerry.isEqualTo("Cheap")) {
    EndOfTheWorld();
    }

    Code:
    import blackberry as bbry
    import world
    from reddit.indianpeoplefacebook import snek
    
    bb = bbry.BlackBerry(year=2015, ceo="Chen")
    if bb.value == "cheap":
        world.ragnarok()
    else:
        try:
            bb.launch_phone("Priv")
            if "Priv" in bbry.FAILURES:
                raise bbry.BankruptcyException
        except bbry.BankruptcyException:
            bb.ceo = None
            bb.market_cap = 0
            del bb
        else:
            print("Great success!")
        finally:
            snek.hsss()
    Posted via CB10
    Last edited by thurask; 10-24-15 at 02:07 AM.
    10-24-15 12:46 AM
  25. Spinal's Avatar
    BlackBerry have Porsche design variants of their phones. You don't see that with LG, HTC or many other Android manufacturer.
    you also don't really see a porsche design phone, i think i've ever only seen two.

    If blackberry was releasing this phone when their shares were worth more than a meal at subway then sure it'd probably fly no problem. But when a company tanks from peak $230/share to $100/share now down to like 10 bucks - thats a real hard sell. If you show the general masses an iphone for a grand or a priv for there abouts (i'm talkin CDN pricing) they'll go for the iphone. market presence has a lot to do with it. don't even get me started on their lack of QC for the BB10 devices.

    not to mention Chen's joke of a demo and there hasn't been any sort of public release for this device.

    so while we may all love BB and i really want to get a priv myself, lets take a step back and get back into reality, selling this phone at its current price to move the kind of volume they want to move - or at least should want to move is just not going to happen. If it was say 749 or maybe even 799 here then sure, but not 899.
    7onZ and 1oo1 like this.
    10-24-15 01:27 AM
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