[Techno-guy]

Pretty much all of the sentiments I've had about the Priv were outlined in an article on The Verge posted just a few minutes ago. Summary - the Priv is WAY too expensive for a company selling phones for $240 to its customer base, it is starting off without even the latest Android OS (Marshmallow) and Blackberry's track record of updates is nothing short of horrendous, there is no CDMA version which knocks out half of U.S. customers, and its only compelling feature is the keyboard which has a very limited audience.

At $699 this is going to be a REALLY hard sell to 99% of consumers who have far superior and cheaper choices in the Android world.

BlackBerry?s $699 Android gambit is too much too late | The Verge

BlackBerry’s $699 Android gambit is too much too late

By Vlad Savov on October 27, 2015 08:45 am @vladsavov



Of all the big companies that were selling mobile phones before the iPhone, every one has now either moved to making Android phones or left the market. BlackBerry was the last remaining holdout, but now it too has an Android handset in the offing, and if that goes sour, it too could be departing the hardware business altogether.

The first Android-powered BlackBerry, the $699 Priv, was enforced upon the company by the need for apps. "What I’m doing," said CEO John Chen at the Code Mobile conference this month, "is taking advantage of what the industry can offer, but not wandering off our core strength." BlackBerry security is at the heart of the Priv, and its slide-out QWERTY keyboard is a company hallmark, signaling the intent to appeal to business customers. Like the Passport before it, the Priv targets corporate clients and the BlackBerry faithful first, but it’s also courting high-end smartphone buyers. You don’t put a Quad HD curved display and 18-megapixel camera with phase-detect autofocus and OIS on a phone that’s just intended for filing expenses.

The Priv’s mission is an impossible one.

Whether you focus on its enterprise features or its consumer allure, it’s hard to find an audience that would be willing to pay the high price of BlackBerry’s new smartphone. Sure, there’s a high end to the smartphone market, and the Priv doesn’t cost any more than a Galaxy Note 5 with its own keyboard cover, but BlackBerry hasn’t been part of that conversation in years. The average selling price of a BlackBerry smartphone today is $240, so whatever handset business it still has is most definitely not in the premium segment. Perhaps half a decade ago, when everyone had to have two devices — a BlackBerry for work and an iPhone for leisure — this might have been an appealing proposition where the two converge into one. But that opportunity has already been captured by Apple, whose average selling price for the iPhone is well in excess of $600.

"The Priv represents yesterday's ideas with today's specs"

With the help of IBM, Apple’s now convincing big businesses to trust its iOS devices, making inroads into the enterprise market that BlackBerry hopes to secure. And while BlackBerry is treating Android as incidental to its purposes — just an adaptation of the route by which BlackBerry services reach users — being on the same platform as everyone else deprives the company’s devices from offering a unique combination of hardware and software. Android also places the Priv in direct competition with Samsung’s Knox security platform, which Chen has admitted is as secure as BlackBerry’s, and which already has the advantage of years of Android development under its belt (plus some of BlackBerry’s security technology).

John Chen hopes the premium-priced Priv will not only halt years of downward momentum in hardware revenues for BlackBerry, but reverse it. Having recorded only 800,000 smartphone sales in the last quarter, the BlackBerry chief has set a baseline of selling 5 million smartphones per year in order to keep the handset business sustainable, and the Priv is supposed to be a major driver in that.

"BlackBerry needs this phone to sell in large volumes, but hasn't priced it accordingly"

But what sets the BlackBerry Priv apart? As far as consumers are concerned, it will be all about that physical keyboard. Samsung already has a pair of Edge handsets with dual-curved screens like the Priv’s, and there are plenty of excellent Android cameraphones this year, each of them costing less than BlackBerry’s new $699 flagship. Are there really that many people willing to spend that much extra money for the thrills and joys of a physical keyboard?

The best case scenario for the Priv is that it ends up being BlackBerry’s version of a Chromebook Pixel or a Surface Book: an excellent device that sells in low volume and with a high profit margin. But neither Google nor Microsoft is relying on the sale of those computers to sustain its business. To them, the device is of instrumental rather than existential importance, whereas BlackBerry really needs this phone to sell well. There’s no halo effect from which BlackBerry can benefit with the Priv, because the company is now on Google’s platform, not its own, and it also doesn’t have any more affordable Android handsets to offer. The Priv will either sell itself or nothing at all.

"Trusting BlackBerry with security is one thing, but what about Android updates?"

If recent history is anything to go by, the Priv is unlikely to achieve even the more modest goal of being a niche success. It’s strictly a GSM phone, so it won’t work on Verizon, the network preferred by many of the businesses that the Priv is designed to appeal to. BlackBerry’s track record with developing and updating OS software also happens to be atrocious. The PlayBook tablet didn’t have a native email client for months, and promises about it receiving an update to BB10 OS were reneged upon. So BlackBerry, a company with no credibility among Android smartphone buyers, has shown itself to be both slow and unreliable — which is precisely the unhappy combination that makes people distrustful of current Android OEMs. The Priv doesn’t ship with the latest software on board, opting for the older Lollipop despite Android Marshmallow’s availability, which seems like a recipe for near-future heartache.

Ultimately, the most questionable aspects about the BlackBerry Priv relate to its maker rather than the product itself. It’s very likely that the Priv will be a well-constructed, durable machine with plenty of great hardware both inside and out. But will BlackBerry make the most of it? Will the company’s famous care and diligence about security extend to basic OS support as well?

It would be great to think that an old stalwart of the mobile industry could come crashing into the Android realm and disrupt the competition by setting an example to follow. But BlackBerry’s arrival comes too late. Its keyboard isn’t going to be the big differentiator that it once was, and its decision to court all and everyone has resulted in a price that will be difficult to stomach. The only smartphone more expensive than the BlackBerry Priv is the iPhone 6S Plus, and that’s bought on the strength of brand loyalty, a great track record, and the social cachet of owning the smartphone. BlackBerry’s last bet on the smartphone market could yet be an awesome device, but it doesn’t look likely to be an awesome success.

[phone_fanatic]

I honestly am sick of reading these articles. It's pretty simple if you don't like something about the phone or think it's too expensive why bother with wasting your time on it? I liked the device so I ordered it and I obviously would have liked it to be cheaper but since I liked it enough I went ahead with it. These freaking articles have no evidentiary basis to them but is just an opinion of the author. Not like they did a market research that lasted several months, extracted multitude of data, devised algorithms and then made the call that 'it's too late'. Seriously, I can write a damn article right now and talk about how this is going to be a big come back for BB.

Anyway, just a little rant now that I think I have heard or read about it being 'too expensive' or 'too late' a million times. If you don't like it, don't get it and move on.

[koool1]

Meh. Whatever.

Yes it's expensive. As I've said before this is not for the Walmart crowd. It's a premium secure professional device. BlackBerry can't compete with Moto and Nexus and it shouldn't.

Posted via  BlackBerry Z30

[Jahcure]

Ah the verge lol these guys always **** on BlackBerry so nothing new here.

Posted via CB10

[webber27]

How is BlackBerry's record of upgrades "horrendous"? Every single BB10 phone going back to the Z10 which launched in January 2013 has received every update. I've owned a Q5 for about 2.5 years and I've seen at least 4 major updates.

Posted via CB10

[bobshine]

Well if you can't afford $699 for a phone, maybe you shouldn't be using one!



Posted via CB10

[weezul]

these articles are just clickbait as far as i'm concerned until someone actually uses one for a week, and then reviews it.

[ToniCipriani]

Ah the verge lol these guys always **** on anything non-Apple so nothing new here.

Posted via CB10

FTFY. I stopped reading them, Ars has much more balanced views these days.

[wyrdfool]

The Verge is banned from my click. I like the Priv but I already have Android as my second phone (HTC One M7 dual sim) for apps. And that's suffice for my needs. My main phone however will always be BlackBerry 10. Just upgraded from Z30 to Passport SE.

Posted via CB10

[joewoo]

So here you are... already decided on not getting it and being overpriced, yet you're still talking about it....

When I decide I'm not buying something.... it's just not something I think about much... and I leave it at that...

[cpt2hearts]

Im an apple user and am convinced the verge clearly have their noses up the backside of apple so far anything they say is completely irrelevant about anything else. So take what they say with a pinch of salt

[DJBS4LIFE]

I don't care what anyone says. I like what I like .

BBM Channel: C0001F285

[-Puck-]

Verge. Did not click.

/thread

 Posted in CB10 from my amazing SQUARE OG Passport 

[Joao Oliveira]

So iVerge wrote something negative about Blackberry, what a novelty! I'll give a cookie to someone that finds a any positive review of Blackberry in that website

[Dazzla]

As mentioned above, the pro Apple, anti anything else rhetoric is boring. It's nothing more than clickbait. It's even worse now Mossberg is on the books, I mean God, just watch the iPhone 6S video review by him. And the article dedicated to defending Steve Jobs with regards to the movie.

There isn't a single non nexus phone shipping with Marshmallow. The HTC A9 will but it's not out yet, and its decidedly mid range, and it's over �400 in the UK. Not a massive jump to the Priv.

[will308]

Pretty much all of the sentiments I've had about the Priv were outlined in an article on The Verge posted just a few minutes ago. Summary - the Priv is WAY too expensive for a company selling phones for $240 to its customer base, it is starting off without even the latest Android OS (Marshmallow) and Blackberry's track record of updates is nothing short of horrendous, there is no CDMA version which knocks out half of U.S. customers, and its only compelling feature is the keyboard which has a very limited audience.

At $699 this is going to be a REALLY hard sell to 99% of consumers who have far superior and cheaper choices in the Android world.

BlackBerry?s $699 Android gambit is too much too late | The Verge

nobody is making you buy the priv if you don't want to buy it or cant afford it then don't as you have said there are other android phones for you to buy go and get one of them................my god how many more ppl are going to start a new thread and moan about the same thing ...........close this thread will somebody

[early2bed]

[Usual statement about how whoever wrote this is irrelevant or biased]

[laid-back]

meh...it's an article, i saw it and read it...didn't make too much of it. they brought nothing new, it's just speculation. the real reviews will come out once the phone is available.
remember many of these websites simply have to write and post articles to get the traffic going.

[KermEd]

What I will say is at least this verge author has more knowledge of the backstory. Usually they have an opinion and no knowledge.

Posted to CB via my Passport | Lloyd Summers | FileArchiveHaven

[thecurryman]

Aside from the one review that gave Nexus the "best android phone" status, The verge is terrible at anything non apple. I wouldnt look at it too much, its just click bait. They said the galaxy s6 edge(+) is overpriced too but plenty of people bought that.

[EchuOkan1]

Here we go again! I cannot add anything else to what everyone else has replied. Just stop wasting time and move on with the cheap alternatives in your price range. Simple!

[Techno-guy]

nobody is making you buy the priv if you don't want to buy it or cant afford it then don't as you have said there are other android phones for you to buy go and get one of them................my god how many more ppl are going to start a new thread and moan about the same thing ...........close this thread will somebody

Interesting post. I have actually been VERY interested in the Priv, until I saw the rollout (the embarrassing Chen interview - it runs "Google"), realized there would be no Launch Event whipping up excitement, showing commitment for the phone and giving important feature information and, finally, saw the price. Yes, price does matter for 99% of consumers, even if they can "afford" something and The Verge article accurately illustrates that.

Good press is a huge advantage in selling any product, including phones, so reports like this that trickle into the mainstream hurt sales no matter how many on this Forum dismiss it because it's "just" The Verge, or just Engadget, or just BGR or Fortune or CNN, etc.

I am in the sweet spot of Blackberry's target audience with purchases of the Passport, Z30 and Z10 over the past few years and I've been really excited about the Priv but as one of the last Blackberry loyalists, I am rightfully frustrated about many of the decisions being made by Blackberry (including pricing which matters to 99% of people) and sure don't want to end up with a stranded, unsupported phone because Blackberry decides to exit the hardware business (as Chen threatened in his recent Walt Mossberg interview).

[jhirizarry]

This guy's don't like BlackBerry period. If you mention to them about the BlackBerry A10, they will just make a bad review. Even if the device don't even exist, just because is a BlackBerry. So don't waste your time with them and see it as just entertainment.

PassportSQW100-1/10.3.2.2789 on T-Mobile w/ WiFi Calling

[Scovik]

All I read from that article is bla bla bla bla expensive, bla bla bla bla 2 late, bla bla bla bla bla all the internet is a genius except BB which have no clue what they are doing, bla bla bla bla.

Maybe the writer of the article can tell us all what phone ever came out with the latest Android version when the new one was announced ?
Except for the new nexus phones no other manufacturer ever ever in the history of never ever land has come out with the latest OS released by google. So excuse BB if they don't roll out with MM which will have lots of bugs and issues when it will be released.

[ToniCipriani]

I kinda wished there was a review aggregator for tech stuff, much like Rotten Tomatoes.