KEY3 this, KEY3 that! My KEY2 is just fine!

I see a lot of thoughts about this new Key3 but I'm doing just fine with the key2. It's as fast as I need it to be. It's loaded with more features than any other phone at least I think it is lol. It last all day. Camera gets the job done.the keyboard is the best in the world. Media consumption is awesome considering how long this battery last all day. I could keep going to be completely honest I am in no rush for a key3 even though I know it's going to be awesome lol The key2 is the best phone out right now and if my phone died today I would gladly buy another key2

Ideally , the Key3 would be aimed at users of the K1 or older devices - not K2 users. However, TCL found out that there was not enough demand to enable ongoing production. In other words, the K2 failed to attract users of the Priv/DTEK/Classic generation which led to them throwing in the towel.

Originally Posted by andreydagr8

I see a lot of thoughts about this new Key3 but I'm doing just fine with the key2. It's as fast as I need it to be. It's loaded with more features than any other phone at least I think it is lol. It last all day. Camera gets the job done.the keyboard is the best in the world. Media consumption is awesome considering how long this battery last all day. I could keep going to be completely honest I am in no rush for a key3 even though I know it's going to be awesome lol The key2 is the best phone out right now and if my phone died today I would gladly buy another key2

I wish I could be as content as you haha. I love my K2, but I'm definitely itching for something new. The clincher is that it won't be getting any future OS updates.

It's a death spiral - if sales are down and support is scaled back, fewer people buy the next generation and further scaling back is necessary, which means even fewer buyers.

BB-branded device sales have been dropping by 50% a year since 2012,year after year, and 2019 device sales are expected to be just over 100k devices, which is 1/10th of the minimum that TCL would need to have a sustainable business. Given those numbers and the forecast, it makes no financial sense to continue, as it would only generate a bigger loss for TCL.

Originally Posted by Troy Tiscareno

It's a death spiral - if sales are down and support is scaled back, fewer people buy the next generation and further scaling back is necessary, which means even fewer buyers.

BB-branded device sales have been dropping by 50% a year since 2012,year after year, and 2019 device sales are expected to be just over 100k devices, which is 1/10th of the minimum that TCL would need to have a sustainable business. Given those numbers and the forecast, it makes no financial sense to continue, as it would only generate a bigger loss for TCL.

I had no idea world wide sales were that low Troy. They are appalling low number and it is very difficult to see why they would keep going in the phone market

2017 BBMo numbers, which included sales of remaining DTEKs and K1s manufacturers for other licensees, in addition to the basic Motion and K1 sales, was 660k devices.

2018 numbers included the above plus K2 and K2LE, and were 335k.

2019 is likely to be 105-110k based on sales through October.

Appallingly low indeed. And TCL loses money on every phone sold.

What Key3?

Originally Posted by Troy Tiscareno

2017 BBMo numbers, which included sales of remaining DTEKs and K1s manufacturers for other licensees waa 660k devices, in addition to the Motion and K1.

2018 numbers included the above plus K2 and K2LE, and were 335k.

2019 is likely to be 105-110k based on sales through October.

Appallingly low indeed. And TCL loses money on every phone sold.

Troy, is there a market for a “ Big-business phone” ?

https://www.eweek.com/pc-hardware/ho...of-smartphones

Originally Posted by TgeekB

What Key3?

KEY3? You mean the Red KEY2?

Originally Posted by Bbnivende

Troy, is there a market for a “ Big-business phone” ?

https://www.eweek.com/pc-hardware/ho...of-smartphones

Not one that doesn't use iOS or Android as the OS, no.

The market has proven that pretty spectacularly, having absolutely annihilated every other major mobile OS with massive financial losses that forced players out of the market and often out of existence. Even for a corporate phone, if you don't have the app and services ecosystem, you've got nothing, and developers have less than zero interest in supporting a third platform.

So, despite a few articles and opinions on the Internet, any such "big-business" phone is going to have to be iOS or Android, and obviously iOS is Apple-only, so... that pretty much leaves Android.

I understand that BofA's CEO still carries his BB10 device and would prefer something like it - but quite simply, even if BofA adopted some fictional new OS across the board, that wouldn't put a tiny dent into the number of annual phones that BB or anyone would need to be able to sell EVERY YEAR to have any chance of making a third OS work.

And before anyone mentions it, trying to ride Android's coattails by putting in a runtime and hoping to use Google's ecosystem is a non-starter - Google could at any moment cut off Play Store access to those devices. So far, they haven't needed to - but if something threatened them, they could cut them off very easily and would be well within their legal rights to do so. Of course, alternative app stores exist, but try selling that to banks and governments!

BB simply isn't in any position to do this beyond licensing out their flavor of Android to other OEMs - but if that was going to work, why hasn't BofA and all the other banks purchased Key-series phones, or the Motion? None of them did, and none of them are likely to. And one CEO wishing for something like BB10 doesn't make the idea feasible, even if he's the CEO of a big bank. It's easy to talk, but he had plenty of opportunity to put his money where his mouth is, and didn't when it might have made a difference. Why would any investor believe he will now? Much less all the other banks and governments and huge enterprise companies? A 50,000 device order from any big company would have been a HUGE sale, and there's 1000 companies in the US who could have easily done that if they thought it was a good idea - but not a single one did.

When people start actually writing checks, THAT's when you'll see some movement - and that isn't likely IMO.

“But the interesting thing was that Moynihan, like many CEOs and government employees, still uses a BlackBerry QNX phone” .

Really?? This is just wishful thinking by the Author. Moynihan is definitely not representative of top 500 CEO’s.

Troy, your response was right on target.

Originally Posted by the_boon

KEY3? You mean the Red KEY2?

The title says Key3. I’m confused. [emoji1787]

Originally Posted by TgeekB

The title says Key3. I’m confused. [emoji1787]

Lol I'm basically saying that the Red KEY2 is the closest we'll get to the KEY3.

That said, I'm gonna be selling mine (again) since the Red color really is just not for me.

Originally Posted by the_boon

Lol I'm basically saying that the Red KEY2 is the closest we'll get to the KEY3.

That said, I'm gonna be selling mine (again) since the Red color really is just not for me.

Heck, you buy and sell a Key device every week don’t you? [emoji1787]

Originally Posted by TgeekB

Heck, you buy and sell a Key device every week don’t you? [emoji1787]

Until I find a Silver/Black KEY2 with a satisfactory spacebar lol.

I'm hoping to stop with this madness eventually.

This week I'm getting a Champagne LE from Swappa, and that will mean I would have owned every single color variant of BBMo's phones.

I'm currently messing around with a Classic also and considering picking up another Priv (It would be my 7th).

...okay I really have to stop lol

Originally Posted by the_boon

Until I find a Silver/Black KEY2 with a satisfactory spacebar lol.

I'm hoping to stop with this madness eventually.

This week I'm getting a Champagne LE from Swappa, and that will mean I would have owned every single color variant of BBMo's phones.

I'm currently messing around with a Classic also and considering picking up another Priv (It would be my 7th).

...okay I really have to stop lol

How the hell do you keep buying the same phone over and over? [emoji1787] I’d be so sick of it by now.

Different strokes and all that I guess.

Why not just get an all black case for your Red KEY2? You are giving up the current Holy Grail of BB phones to go back to an LE due to colour? You colourist you!

Originally Posted by the_boon

Until I find a Silver/Black KEY2 with a satisfactory spacebar lol.

I'm hoping to stop with this madness eventually.

This week I'm getting a Champagne LE from Swappa, and that will mean I would have owned every single color variant of BBMo's phones.

I'm currently messing around with a Classic also and considering picking up another Priv (It would be my 7th).

...okay I really have to stop lol

LOL.. Why don't get black/silver LE instead?

Originally Posted by Tsepz_GP

How the hell do you keep buying the same phone over and over? [emoji1787] I’d be so sick of it by now.

Different strokes and all that I guess.

Why not just get an all black case for your Red KEY2? You are giving up the current Holy Grail of BB phones to go back to an LE due to colour? You colourist you!

Well, I have come to really dislike the red color.

I had even bought a skinomi black carbon skin and used just the chin part and paired with a black case, the only Red I could see is the frets between the rows of keys.

Still, too much Red for me. The black and Silver just look way more classy in my opinion. And you can't really get tired/sick of black. So I keep telling myself that I will eventually find one that feels as it should.

Originally Posted by chain13

LOL.. Why don't get black/silver LE instead?

There is no black/silver LE lol.

Well, all LE's have the same silver logo and camera ring on the back.

I'm using a Slate and soon a Champagne. There are still some things I much prefer on the KEY2 such as the extra 500mAh of battery and capacitive keyboard, and camera as well as a better LED light.

The KEY2 does still look and feel more premium, even though the LE feels grippier and more secure in the hand.

Decisions, decisions

Paying $600 for a one and a half year phone like the Key2 its kind of a joke. Id expect that for a less than a year old phone. Blackberry pricing policy always have been awful and this is a good example of it. My KeyOne is in the final part of its life and I'll need a new phone soon but there is no way I´m paying more than $500 for a brand new Key2 and its two years old (at least) technology.

I'd happily pay $600/yr just for updated software. Buying new hardware just for software updates is obscenely wasteful, imo. A ridiculously wasteful business model, imo. Far from "green", imo. Now... If K3 managed to include trackpad... Count me IN !!! ;)

Originally Posted by idssteve

I'd happily pay $600/yr just for updated software. Buying new hardware just for software updates is obscenely wasteful, imo. A ridiculously wasteful business model, imo. Far from "green", imo. Now... If K3 managed to include trackpad... Count me IN !!! ;)

Yeah I don't know about $600, but I'd pay probably up to C$150-200 for updated software as I'm still quite happy with the hardware on the K2. But as the K2 updates end this summer, I will sadly be moving on. Maybe the Pixel 4a or hope that Google doesn't mess up the Pixel 5 like they did on 4.

Originally Posted by eleonn

Paying $600 for a one and a half year phone like the Key2 its kind of a joke. Id expect that for a less than a year old phone. Blackberry pricing policy always have been awful and this is a good example of it. My KeyOne is in the final part of its life and I'll need a new phone soon but there is no way I´m paying more than $500 for a brand new Key2 and its two years old (at least) technology.

So you’d pay $499 for a Key2 now? That doesn’t really make any sense if shopping for price alone since it will be the same problems you’ve mentioned either way. Should just go and buy Titan instead. Close enough right?

Originally Posted by pgg101

Yeah I don't know about $600, but I'd pay probably up to C$150-200 for updated software as I'm still quite happy with the hardware on the K2. But as the K2 updates end this summer, I will sadly be moving on. Maybe the Pixel 4a or hope that Google doesn't mess up the Pixel 5 like they did on 4.

Well... $150 is certainly better than 600. Lol. I just don't see "new every two" business model as perpetually sustainable. Nor very "green".

Far, FAR more relevant to ME is impact on MY revenue generating proficiency while suffering perpetual learning curves demanded by perpetually changing hardware! Once muscle memory has learned a tool, RE-learning perpetual "re-invention of the wheel" COSTS! Time, energy, money, focus, ... Etc.

We pay saf for antivirus, VPN, etc, etc. I can personally justify paying a significant SAF for the privilege of keeping the hardware muscle memory has already embedded. Just take my money, patch the security, and let me live life! Please!! Lol.

Originally Posted by idssteve

Well... $150 is certainly better than 600. Lol. I just don't see "new every two" business model as perpetually sustainable. Nor very "green".

Far, FAR more relevant to ME is impact on MY revenue generating proficiency while suffering perpetual learning curves demanded by perpetually changing hardware! Once muscle memory has learned a tool, RE-learning perpetual "re-invention of the wheel" COSTS! Time, energy, money, focus, ... Etc.

We pay saf for antivirus, VPN, etc, etc. I can personally justify paying a significant SAF for the privilege of keeping the hardware muscle memory has already embedded. Just take my money, patch the security, and let me live life! Please!! Lol.

Until TCL decides to implant an app through the Preview app that bypasses detection of even DTEK. Oops they already did that...