[ce71]

Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like this is Blackberry's last shot with smartphones. It's 5 million phones or bust, right? Therefore, isn't $699 a risky strategy? I'm not implying they should under-value the Priv, but if you're really going to put all your smartphone chips on the table, should you not create a device that has a good chance to penetrate the market? Instead of 5 million phones at $699, why not shoot for 10 million phones at $499 or $399?

Blackberry makes solid smartphones. So, device performance and quality is not their problem. What IS a problem is over-coming their brand... their own name... and the best way to cure that is to create as many happy consumers as possible. Get people talking. Make the name visible again in the public... with more people holding a smartphone that reads "Blackberry". This should be about volume. I'm just not sure a high-end, $699, device is the ticket that will make that happen.

[bakron1]

I also think 699.00 is at the high end for a Blackberry branded device, but Mr Chen did say it was going to be priced at the premium end and looking at the price of an iPhone 6S and the Galaxy models, it's in the ballpark. I also ordered one myself and I would have thought that a 599 or 649 entry range would have attracted more consumers?

But, I don't have some fancy marketing degree, so I am just basing it off my observations at the moment. My real big concern is that Blackberry is in a brand image repair mode at the moment and the 699 price tag is going to scare more folks away then attracting them back to the brand?

[Joint7]

I've been a BB loyalist for quite some time and I've stuck with the brand through all of these missteps they've made. This 699 price is another foolish move if you ask me. Sometimes I actually wonder if someone is trying to sabotage the company. Dumb move after Dumb move leads me to think that way.

Now I have to make the TUFF decision of whether to spend 700 bucks to remain with this company. One would think they wouldn't put people through such a decision.

[Vincent Ma1]

Once you lower the price, people become to think " See? Blackberry is really dying. They are lowering the price to save themselves". I think that does more harm than a high price new Android phone. Blackberry had never been a cheap brand and they would never let that happen. Maybe the management thinks as long as the product is solid and attractive and competitive, and differentiated, there are always a large numbers of customers willing to buy.

[Croberry1989]

It's like with wine. If you put a big price tag on it people really think it is a superb specimen. People are dumb. BlackBerry has a good strategy here.

Posted via CB10

[BroncoVAL]

I also think 699.00 is at the high end for a Blackberry branded device, but Mr Chen did say it was going to be priced at the premium end and looking at the price of an iPhone 6S and the Galaxy models, it's in the ballpark. I also ordered one myself and I would have thought that a 599 or 649 entry range would have attracted more consumers?

But, I don't have some fancy marketing degree, so I am just basing it off my observations at the moment. My real big concern is that Blackberry is in a brand image repair mode at the moment and the 699 price tag is going to scare more folks away then attracting them back to the brand?

You think 699$ will scare more folks than attracting them?
So what about european folks with a 800 Euro tag price (around 880-900$)?
The price is ludicrously high, and what makes it even worse is Android users that are used to entry level price (even for some devices with 4 core or more like Xiaomi, Huawei, Bluboo that go from 132 euro to 300 euro and they are as snappy as any Blackberry is...)
I now think Chen has made his mind on the hardware department and he doesn't believe in a resurrection: the Priv will be the last BlackBerry device. Maybe they'll license their OS or security abilities...or even be ripped off and copied like WebOs was... too bad BB10 was truly a great experience from an user point of view.

Posted via CB10

[europolska00]

Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like this is Blackberry's last shot with smartphones. It's 5 million phones or bust, right? Therefore, isn't $699 a risky strategy? I'm not implying they should under-value the Priv, but if you're really going to put all your smartphone chips on the table, should you not create a device that has a good chance to penetrate the market? Instead of 5 million phones at $699, why not shoot for 10 million phones at $499 or $399?

Blackberry makes solid smartphones. So, device performance and quality is not their problem. What IS a problem is over-coming their brand... their own name... and the best way to cure that is to create as many happy consumers as possible. Get people talking. Make the name visible again in the public... with more people holding a smartphone that reads "Blackberry". This should be about volume. I'm just not sure a high-end, $699, device is the ticket that will make that happen.

Because you don't sell a Porsche at the price of a Chevy.

Priv hardware specs are up there with Sony Z5 Premium, Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge plus, and kill iPhone 6S Plus. Those phone are more expensive. That makes Priv a bargain. Priv has expensive parts and they all add up.

Why does everyone want a high end BlackBerry and expect it to be Q5 priced? I don't get it.



Posted via CB10

[GiantSchnauzer]

Because $699 psychologically makes it sound a lot cheaper than the $700 they want for it.....

This info passed on with the BlackBerry Passport!

[Arjun Sahota]

Did everyone forget the Z10 was $699 at launch too? At least in canada...

Posted via BlackBerry Passport

[ce71]

Because you don't sell a Porsche at the price of a Chevy.

Priv hardware specs are up there with Sony Z5 Premium, Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge plus, and kill iPhone 6S Plus. Those phone are more expensive. That makes Priv a bargain.

Why does everyone want a high end BlackBerry and expect it to be Q5 priced? I don't get it.

Posted via CB10

I agree. You do not get it.

As I said... they should NOT under-value the Priv. My point is - why even make a $699 device? Why not make a device that is affordable enough to gain traction in the market?

Comparing Blackberry to Porsche is a terrible comparison by the way. Porsche doesn't have 1/1000 the failed reputation that Blackberry has. You seem to think that Blackberry is leveraging from a position of strength, they are not (go look at their stock over the past 5 years). They need to regain value in the mind's of consumers. Porsche does not.

[Joao Oliveira]

Just be happy that you're not paying over 900$ like we in europe will

[anon4226395]

Because you don't sell a Porsche at the price of a Chevy.

Priv hardware specs are up there with Sony Z5 Premium, Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge plus, and kill iPhone 6S Plus. Those phone are more expensive. That makes Priv a bargain. Priv has expensive parts and they all add up.

Why does everyone want a high end BlackBerry and expect it to be Q5 priced? I don't get it.



Posted via CB10

I know this doesn't address your comment directly but I posted a POLL here some time ago asking what pple were prepared to pay; few respondents so meaningless stats, but it was quite bimodal, with about 50% prepared to pay 699 or higher and 50% suggesting less or much less.

This seems to be have been borne out by the ratio of "I'm in" vs "No way" we are seeing (despite leaks suggesting the Priv may be rather special). So the price point is probably a huge consideration for many pple, not surprisingly.

[mad_mdx]

BlackBerry's costs are too high, they would probably lose money at any price. Trust me, they have accountants who have priced this thing and they aren't Microsoft (able to sell at a loss)

Furthermore, the price will come down over time, keep in mind this is the pre-order launch price. I don't think the BlackBerry brand is considered as bad either, people who have android already know what it means to be an android device, and they don't really have loyalty to a brand

[europolska00]

I agree. You do not get it.

As I said... they should NOT under-value the Priv. My point is - why even make a $699 device? Why not make a device that is affordable enough to gain traction in the market?

Comparing Blackberry to Porsche is a terrible comparison by the way. Porsche doesn't have 1/1000 the failed reputation that Blackberry has. You seem to think that Blackberry is leveraging from a position of strength, they are not (go look at their stock over the past 5 years). They need to regain value in the mind's of consumers. Porsche does not.

No, I get it perfectly fine. It's why I understand the reason for not discounting the phone and why I'm not asking people in a forum to explain it to me.

The answer is because when your handset division is almost out of business, and lost so much money all ready, you can't afford to bleed money anymore.

And the Porshe example was just a random example of a high end product being sold for a mid range price. Read the subtext dude and relax.

You asked a question, so I answered it. Don't be upset with me if you don't like the answer. Geeze.
Posted via CB10

[HyperM3]

I was back and forth debating on the phone hours on end until I eventually said screw it and put it in my cart. Then I proceeded with checkout only to see the taxes were another $75! Yeah, I emptied my cart at that point. Ill wait for actual hands on reviews until further notice.

[Techno-guy]

Let's be honest - Priv pricing not very competitive compared to a number of brand new phones just being released at the same time as the Priv. The LG V10 with a second screen is $599 at T-Mobile and will reportedly come with a special 200GB micro-SD card promotion from LG (which is worth $179 on Amazon). That LG looks amazing. The Nexus 5X is $429 with 32GB and its big brother, the Nexus 6P, is $559 with 64GB. The One Plus Two with 64GB is sold for a hard to believe $389. The new Motorola X Pure Edition is $499 for 64GB.

Only a few phones sell in that $700 (or more) range, mostly by Apple and Samsung, who have earned an enormous customer base of very loyal customers. Blackberry is nowhere near the reputation of Apple or Samsung nor do they even have a fraction of the customer base. Nor are their customers (or potential customers) willing, like Apple's are, to pay a price premium for their phones. Think about this - the average selling price across all of Blackberry's lines was $240 in the Q1 '16 fiscal report, up from $182. That's bottom of the barrel in the cellphone world.

I honestly think Blackberry has priced the Priv so it doesn't sell so they can justify shutting down their hardware division once and for all and call it a day. I was very excited about the Priv initially but I now see the writing on the wall.

[europolska00]

Let's be honest - Priv pricing not very competitive compared to a number of brand new phones just being released at the same time as the Priv. The LG V10 with a second screen is $599 at T-Mobile and will reportedly come with a special 200GB micro-SD card promotion from LG (which is worth $179 on Amazon). That LG looks amazing. The Nexus 5X is $429 with 32GB and its big brother, the Nexus 6P, is $559 with 64GB. The One Plus Two with 64GB is sold for a hard to believe $389. The new Motorola X Pure Edition is $499 for 64GB.

Only a few phones sell in that $700 (or more) range, mostly by Apple and Samsung, who have earned an enormous customer base of very loyal customers. Blackberry is nowhere near the reputation of Apple or Samsung nor do they even have a fraction of the customer base. Nor are their customers (or potential customers) willing, like Apple's are, to pay a price premium for their phones. Think about this - the average selling price across all of Blackberry's lines was $240 in the Q1 '16 fiscal report, up from $182. That's bottom of the barrel in the cellphone world.

I honestly think Blackberry has priced the Priv so it doesn't sell so they can justify shutting down their hardware division once and for all and call it a day. I was very excited about the Priv initially but I now see the writing on the wall.

Go www.gsmarena.com and do a side by side specs comparison of the Nexus phones and the Priv. Not an equal comparison.

Ex. Nexus 5x is cheaper because it has over 100 ppi less on the screen, 700mah smaller battery, no SD card slot, 6 less MP on camera, no Gorilla Glass 4.

Why is everyone comparing apples to oranges. Hurts my head.

Posted via CB10

[kbz1960]

They are just getting a great profit off if those that buy it right away and have to have it right away.

If only you could wait a couple months.

[tp2386]

With the LG V10 coming in at $599 for t-mobile and at&t, I don't see how or why BlackBerry would charge anymore than that. Have you guys seen the specs for the V10? 64GB internal storage, and 4GB of RAM. Jeez
LG V10 - Full phone specifications

[chenageddon]

I think this is pretty straightfoward. John Chen would rather get out of the hardware business than get into the smartphone price war and resulting low profitability of that the other manufacturers have. This is a wise strategy since there is no way that BlackBerry can match the cost structure of the larger players. He knows that in the ordinary Android smartphone race, he loses.

[anon4226395]

With the LG V10 coming in at $599 for t-mobile and at&t, I don't see how or why BlackBerry would charge anymore than that. Have you guys seen the specs for the V10? 64GB internal storage, and 4GB of RAM. Jeez
LG V10 - Full phone specifications

But seemingly poorly received in S Korea, LG V10 Isn't Selling Very Well In South Korea | Digital Trends

[tp2386]

But seemingly poorly received in S Korea, LG V10 Isn't Selling Very Well In South Korea | Digital Trends

Saw that the other day. Still doesn't mean it isn't a great phone though. BB10 phones have sold poorly and we know how great they are. People going to an At&t store wouldn't know about the V10 selling poorly in Korea. They would know by looking at the spec sheet that it does have 4GB of ram though.

[BCITMike]

Did everyone forget the Z10 was $699 at launch too? At least in canada...

Posted via BlackBerry Passport

Don't think so. I think $599-$649. Got my Z10 2nd week after release for $549 plus $100 in store credit from mobile syrup.

Posted via CB10

[jasonvan9]

Priv in Canada

899$ CAD
X 1.13 for sales tax in ontario
--------
+ 35$ approx for shipping

=1050$

This is by FAR the most expensive blackberry to date

I bought my Passport on launch day from telus and it was approx 800$


From the leaked info so far, this looks like one powerhouse of a device

Posted via CB10

[dejanh]

It's like with wine. If you put a big price tag on it people really think it is a superb specimen. People are dumb. BlackBerry has a good strategy here.

Posted via CB10

What an uninformed comment. Wine price has a direct correlation with age and year. BlackBerry price is just disconnected from reality. Overpricing an Android device for an Android market is not good strategy.