[dboy54]

If your statement above is true...

You should have seen the answer (or at least opinions) to your questions here at least 10K instances.
LoL.

Touche

Posted via CB10

[MADBRADNYC]

Touche

Just poking at ya with a little fun.

[dboy54]

Going out on a limb here...but I worked retail sales when I was younger and I have a few friends that have worked sales at Rogers stores. I have always found that everyone likes trinkets and shiny things so what if BlackBerry did a North American carrier contest. Train them and push sales by offering a trip for 2 to Mexico for a week for the highest BlackBerry sales in each region. They will push like no tomorrow based on that incentive alone. It all about personal gain. I know Rogers has done a promotion similar to this with android. And it worked well. Sales people only care slightly what you buy as long as it lines their pockets.

Posted via CB10

[donnation]

I don't see it any different than someone who advertises that Mac computers with specified software have the ability to run software that were designed for PC's. Salespersons often use this approach when confronted about the lack of available software for a Mac when compared to a PC.

Posted via CB10 from my spectacular Z10

The difference is you are actually running the full Windows OS on a MAC. You aren't porting Windows apps to run on OSX that may or may not work properly or to their full capacity. Big difference, which is a moot point now anyway because there isn't that disparity in what will run on both OS's now.

[neoberry99]

Blackberry will never be the main device that people want. If anything the Blackberry compliments other phones. The majority of people that I know that have BlackBerry's also have either an Android or iOS. So I think this "niche" market is theres...they just need to continue to build high quality keyboard phones and they will be fine. I think of my BlackBerry as a mini computer.

BlackBerry's with keyboards are the most productive devices on the planet! You see Hollywood stars and celebrities using iOS and Android but believe me...they're using a BlackBerry to get shyt done.

Posted via CB10

[donnation]

Blackberry will never be the main device that people want. If anything the Blackberry compliments other phones. The majority of people that I know that have BlackBerry's also have either an Android or iOS. So I think this "niche" market is theres...they just need to continue to build high quality keyboard phones and they will be fine. I think of my BlackBerry as a mini computer.

BlackBerry's with keyboards are the most productive devices on the planet! You see Hollywood stars and celebrities using iOS and Android but believe me...they're using a BlackBerry to get shyt done.

Posted via CB10

If only that were true.

[WorkStation 0]

Blackberry will never be the main device that people want. If anything the Blackberry compliments other phones. The majority of people that I know that have BlackBerry's also have either an Android or iOS. So I think this "niche" market is theres...they just need to continue to build high quality keyboard phones and they will be fine. I think of my BlackBerry as a mini computer.

BlackBerry's with keyboards are the most productive devices on the planet! You see Hollywood stars and celebrities using iOS and Android but believe me...they're using a BlackBerry to get shyt done.

Posted via CB10

This killed BlackBerry.

I was an early PPC/ smartphone adopter, the two phones thing stopped 5 -6 years ago. Carrying two phone is a PITA.

[WorkStation 0]

I think people who have resigned themselves to using BlackBerry over the past few years might be clueless to the real world advantages of cloud ecosystem.

I don't carry 2 devices because the info that I need is synced to my accounts. I can get to it from any device. Why carry two phones?

A 6 inch screen in my pocket with cell, WiFi, GPS, LTE makes a tablet pointless.

[privateeyes]

What needs to be done?

• Marketing
• A way to officially and easily get the apps that people expect
• Marketing
• New Z10, with better battery life but at the same price point.
• Marketing
• New Z30, with equal to every other super device specs and a competitive price point.
• Marketing
• Full Carrier support - they'll have to pay to get it now
• Marketing
• Billions of dollars to spend overcoming their reputation and the "their out of business"

Do they need the USA... NO. But the question is why doesn't the US want them.... Is it because Americans don't like Canadians or is it because as networks advanced and matured the BlackBerry devices showed they were not keeping up with more modern devices?

Looking a most of the world figures, it sure seems that it isn't a national issue or cultural issue. But an issue of what type of networks are in use (2G 3G 4G) and the importance of having a BBOS devices with BIS capabilites.

I will only comment on one thing you said. I am American and I know I cannot speak for all American's but I like Canadian's and I believe most American's do. I feel whether BlackBerry is Canadian or not it has nothing to do with it. If that was the case American's would not have embraced BlackBerry when they were a success here in the states. The media is the biggest culprit and also the ignorance in this country. That is my 2 cents.

[agarwal.apar]

Most of the apps advertisements which I see are available on Apple and Google Play store. Sometimes, it's WIndows store BUT NEVER I have seen "available on BlackBerry"

What ashame! Android runtime wont help as BlackBerry is killing it's own brand!

[anon(5828343)]

So my two questions are: what, if anything, can be done? and Is it imperative to have strong numbers in the USA to be viewed as a major player?

1) Nothing any individual BB user can do will be effective. This is a problem for BBRY to resolve and it is up to them and them alone to figure out that a) they have a problem and b) it is one worth solving.

2) The USA is no different than any other market. Numbers matter. BB users (and Chen himself) may not care about marketshare "as long as BBRY continues to produce devices" but that is simply wishful thinking because numbers really and truly do matter in the real world.

Developers for apps and corporations that use/issue apps (banks, airlines, news organizations, etc) are not going to waste any resources to support apps which so few people use that it costs them far more to maintain the app than they're worth. That is the reason why BBRY's two-OS strategy is truly moronic. It takes an already small slice of the pie and makes it even smaller. Unless BBRY pays for the development of apps itself (which it sometimes can't even do), it becomes increasingly unlikely that developers and companies will bother with BB because the numbers are becoming more and more irrelevant.

So whether or not corporations, developers or sales/customer service representatives think BBRY is dead or alive becomes an increasingly moot point. If the numbers don't start building and doing so soon, BBRY might as well be dead in the smartphone business. We've been seeing this for quite some time now and many of us (me included) have been hoping against hope that the trends would turn around because of various events such as the BB10/Z10/Q10 launch and the arrival of a new management team. Sadly, far too many mistakes and far too many misfires seem to have been made for this to be turned around.

[aha]

No marketing money, no marketing.

There is no marketing money in BlackBerry 's budget.

Chen wants to get one positive quarter before spending on marketing.

There is no positive quarter in sight in 2014.

In consumers market, no marketing, no revenue.

But in enterprises market, BlackBerry MAY be able to make money without too much marketing... they are the experts in this domain.

So Chen's play is to make as much money as possible in enterprise market without wasting marketing spending, get one positive quarter, then comeback to consumers market.


Posted via CB10 with Z30 on 10.2.1.2234

[anon(5828343)]

Do they need the USA... NO. But the question is why doesn't the US want them.... Is it because Americans don't like Canadians or is it because as networks advanced and matured the BlackBerry devices showed they were not keeping up with more modern devices?

This has zero, absolutely zero, to do with whether BBRY is Canadian or Greek or Ugandan. The vast majority of U.S. consumers don't even know where BBRY is headquartered. They're likely to be more aware about Samsung being a Korean company but does that really matter to a smartphone buyer? Definitely not just like American consumers don't care that Lululemon is a Canadian company or that TD Bank is a Canadian bank (there's one on almost every corner here in NYC for goodness sakes). I mean, the President of the United States uses a Blackberry even though Apple is an American company!

Blackberry's problem has nothing to do with its nationality. It has everything to do with its abysmal marketing, its absolutely botched launch of its new OS, its confusing messaging from its executives, the lack of an app ecosystem (yes, even though you can now use many Android apps on BB10 devices that doesn't matter to the vast majority of smartphone consumers as it takes too much effort), its lousy relationship with carriers and its invisibility in the marketplace. Even with their massive presence in the US market, Samsung and Apple market and advertise the heck out of their products. Even when Apple sells record numbers of iPhones, they still have billboards and signs on the NYC subway system. Blackberry? I saw a BB10 poster in the subway a few months ago. It was almost invisible and was not even catchy.

[anon(5828343)]

No marketing money, no marketing.

There is no marketing money in BlackBerry 's budget.

Chen wants to get one positive quarter before spending on marketing.

There is no positive quarter in sight in 2014.

In consumers market, no marketing, no revenue.

But in enterprises market, BlackBerry MAY be able to make money without too much marketing... they are the experts in this domain.

So Chen's play is to make as much money as possible in enterprise market without wasting marketing spending, get one positive quarter, then comeback to consumers market.


Posted via CB10 with Z30 on 10.2.1.2234

So Chen's plan is to find a way to turn back the clock on BYOD and rely on the so-called enterprise market? It may (and I say "may" intentionally) work for BES but it will absolutely not work for devices. The so-called "pro-sumer" that BBRY is hoping will buy BB's do not exist because someone maybe a "pro-sumer" from 9AM to 5PM but most will morph into consumers sometime during the day. In fact, most want to be consumers and prosumers 24/7 and for BBRY and Chen to somehow pretend that prosumers don't want access to the web or to apps or to entertainment with their smartphones is the ultimate in naivet�.

And the apparent focus on prosumers is totally lost on me when BBRY decides to launch obviously consumer-oriented devices like the Z3. I mean, can't they just make up their minds already?

The bottom line with BBRY is while they can continue to pretend to have a plan or know the direction in which they are headed, time is running out for them to actually remain relevant.

[app_Developer]

The fact that BlackBerry is in Canada matters to Canadians. No one else on the planet cares where their HQ is. Really.

If someone somewhere else cares, he or she is probably a Canadian ex-pat.


Sent from my iPhone 5S using Tapatalk

[ppeters914]

Lots of good comments in this thread. I agree there's not much the average BB user can do except keep using a BB device. Perhaps we need T-shirts and bumper stickers that say:

"BlackBerry: The Original SmartPhone and Still Alive!"

Hopefully, BBRY will become successful enough (I don't care if it's #3 or #10) so I never have to make a choice like I did when Palm died. At that time, my choice was basically iOS or BBOS. Luckily, I chose BBOS, and it had nothing to do with the apps. It was:

- Initial cost: iPhone3 $200, Torch 9800 $100
- Data plan cost: iPhone $25, Torch $15
- Battery life: iPhone hours, Torch days

Really a no-brainer.

[Gazza12]

I think if BB can get significant market share elsewhere then the US market will be asking for the product.....Maybe even T Mob We live in a global not isolated market place now.

[early2bed]

I think if BB can get significant market share elsewhere then the US market will be asking for the product.....Maybe even T Mob We live in a global not isolated market place now.

Because the US now follows the international smartphone market and not the other way around?

[anon(5828343)]

I think if BB can get significant market share elsewhere then the US market will be asking for the product.....Maybe even T Mob We live in a global not isolated market place now.

In reality, the only smartphones that have been able to ignore the US market are some of the Chinese Android manufacturers that rely almost solely on their massive domestic markets as a test bed before they decide to expand into the U.S. There isn't a successful smartphone brand anywhere on the planet that has decided to completely ignore the U.S.

[anon(5828343)]

I think if BB can get significant market share elsewhere then the US market will be asking for the product.....Maybe even T Mob We live in a global not isolated market place now.

In reality, the only smartphones that have been able to ignore the US market are some of the Chinese Android manufacturers that rely almost solely on their massive domestic markets as a test bed before they decide to expand into the U.S. There isn't a successful smartphone brand anywhere on the planet that has decided to completely ignore the U.S.

[red_devil_fan_1999]

Most of the apps advertisements which I see are available on Apple and Google Play store. Sometimes, it's WIndows store BUT NEVER I have seen "available on BlackBerry"

What ashame! Android runtime wont help as BlackBerry is killing it's own brand!

this has been the case for years

[shaleem]

I think people who have resigned themselves to using BlackBerry over the past few years might be clueless to the real world advantages of cloud ecosystem.

I don't carry 2 devices because the info that I need is synced to my accounts. I can get to it from any device. Why carry two phones?

A 6 inch screen in my pocket with cell, WiFi, GPS, LTE makes a tablet pointless.

Or maybe BlackBerry does everything they need it to. I don't think anyone is "resigned" to using a BlackBerry.


Posted using my Z10

[chalx]

I really, really like BB10, but Blackberry has lost strength to carry its own OS. Now, it'snot enough to be able to make OS, it's equally important to manage it and support it. To build an ecosystem, to keep good relations with carriers, to promote it. And for all of this you need a mountain of money and some really smart people.

[kbz1960]

I will only comment on one thing you said. I am American and I know I cannot speak for all American's but I like Canadian's and I believe most American's do. I feel whether BlackBerry is Canadian or not it has nothing to do with it. If that was the case American's would not have embraced BlackBerry when they were a success here in the states. The media is the biggest culprit and also the ignorance in this country. That is my 2 cents.

I believe that was tongue in cheek since there seems to be a contingent here that blames the USA for bb's downfall.

[chalx]

Heck, even Canadians don't care for Blackberry.

I don't understand how Blackberry board and management can't see what is happening on the market? They can look at Microsoft and learn how much effort, money and resources you have to burn to become distant third and to have some limited support from developers (support which is paid, not gained).
Regarding so called prosumer market, its a joke. My colleagues with "toy phones" are getting much more productivity tools on their consumer devices than we, "prosumers", running BB10. It's time to finally cut this "prosumer" BS. BB10 is great platform, in line with my taste, but BB10 is not going anywhere but down. God, greatest feauter in 10.3 is skinable menus and accents!? So much time and effort wasted on feature present in Android for years.

Posted via CB10