[louie5552]

So yeah at Costco and was talking to their phone people and I was checking out the Nokia 900 in hopes of getting a sneak peak at the 920. And I brought up the BlackBerry and they were totally against it. Even going so far as saying they can't wait till google buys RIM. Now I am getting my gf a BB10 phone and so I took the time to school them on BB10. But it does worry me that the sales people are so against BlackBerry.

[berklon]

Not surprising.

The level of trust for RIM is extremely low. At this point even if BB10 were fantastic, I think most people are done with Blackberries. It's just way too late to change their minds.

Anecdotal of course, but I don't know a single person who is interested in getting a BB10 phone. Not any friends, family or anyone at work (and there are a lot of people I deal with at work). They're interested in iPhones or Android devices... and even a few are eyeing WP8.

On my train commute to/from work every day, it's amazing how much has changed over the last few months. The majority of phones I'd see would be Blackberries, but now iPhones and Android devices are in the majority. It happened so quickly. Now with the iPhone 5 coming out it'll get even worse. Best case scenario is that BB10 is out in 4 months - that's a lot of time for RIM to lose more customers.

I hope people on this forum can temper their expectations when BB10 is released. If it winds up being a solid device and the people here love it - that's great. But no-one should expect the phones to fly off shelves - because they won't. The phrase "too little, too late" will be used frequently to describe the disappointing BB10 sales.

[dynot]

I'll bet that all these sales people are referring to the current OS. Can't really blame them can you. Although maybe a little misguided, I think they're just trying to prevent a customer from a potentially regretfull purchase. I probably would do the same and I use a BB exclusively (with OS 6).

On the other hand, the real knowledgeable reps will be aware of BB10 and perhaps offer another option to postpone the purchase till it comes out. But then, all they've done is turn away business and that's not their objective.

So it doesn't surprise me that many do this and I can't really fault them. RIM created this reality all on their own.

[mithrazor]

Like berklon said, a lot changed in a short time.

So who knows, BB can make a come back.

Right now they'll talk bad about BBs. But they don't know what's coming in BB10. All we have gotten so far is a sneak peak and a release date.

For opinions to change, it NEEDS to come to the market.

[jagrlover]

I think what dynot says is correct. Why would he recommend a BlackBerry when there are obviously better phones out there right now. WHEN BB10 is released and WHEN he realizes how great it is, I'm sure he won't have any problems recommending it. As long as the major apps are there everything will be just fine. And yes, Skype WILL be there. I know, a little birdie told me, for real. Don't hate me just because I know. Soon enough the rest of you will too. A lot of people work at RIM.

[gorang]

BB10 won't be immediate success and it won't pull RIM to their former glory days, it will take time for it to pick up. Do you think once Apple went through the change in mid nineties it picked up right away? In minds of many people in North America BB is written off product and many won't even give it a chance so RIM has to count on 'on-boarding' and upgrading during BB10 time. If good BB10 will take time to pick up and RIM will start to bloom again around the time BB11/12 are out. Question is will RIM be profitable enough to sustain itself until then. I have my fingers crossed!!!

[louie5552]

Well I just want something more I guess then total bashing. But then again they did bash on the iphone which I really didn't care that much about. I just wish that a person in their postition should be more informed. He said his verizon rep told him about a nokia phone they are getting but didn't say which one. I just think blackberry should be informing more people. OR maybe some well timed leaks.

[SugarMouth]

So yeah at Costco and was talking to their phone people and I was checking out the Nokia 900 in hopes of getting a sneak peak at the 920. And I brought up the BlackBerry and they were totally against it. Even going so far as saying they can't wait till google buys RIM. Now I am getting my gf a BB10 phone and so I took the time to school them on BB10. But it does worry me that the sales people are so against BlackBerry.

Well the rest of the world feels the same way. RIM is trading at 7.43!!! If you were not a BB user and was looking at this from the outside, you would also not recommend RIM.

Back in '08 RIM was kicking rear! What happened is their head was too big and they did not evolve. Windows on the other hand made a move, they introduced WP7 in Feb '10 because they knew Windows Mobile was history.

Now, for those who think BB10 is going to release and catch fire, think again. Revolutions like the iPhone rarely happen. I expect BB10 to have similar adoption to WP7.

Jim Balsillie & Co. really had no idea of what people wanted. Please have fun reading below:

On new technologies: "Cameraphones will be rejected by corporate users." � Mike Lazaridis, 2003.

On the threat from the iPhone: "[Apple and the iPhone is] kind of one more entrant into an already very busy space with lots of choice for consumers � But in terms of a sort of a sea-change for BlackBerry, I would think that's overstating it."� Balsillie, February 2007.

On the iPhone (again): "Again, I have said this before and I will say it again; Apple has done the industry an enormous favour because they basically told the world to expect a media player [the iPod] as a software feature on a good smartphone. As the leading smartphone appliance company and platform company, we could not buy that kind of validation for $100m."� Balsillie, April 2007.

On the iPhone: "As nice as the Apple iPhone is, it poses a real challenge to its users. Try typing a web key on a touchscreen on an Apple iPhone, that's a real challenge. You cannot see what you type." � Balsillie, November 2007.

On the tablet market: "So the question you have to ask yourself is when it comes to tablet, what market or what opportunities, still, it's solving, what problem is it solving, and is it just a replacement laptop? I think that's a difficult one to judge." Lazaridis, April 2010.

On tablet apps versus web apps � where Steve Jobs had publicly reversed his position in 2007 away from web apps to on-device apps: "There may be 300,000 apps for the iPhone and iPad, but the only app you really need is the browser. You don't need an app for the web ... You don't need to go through some kind of SDK ... You can use your web tools ... And you can publish your apps to the BlackBerry without writing any native code." Balsillie, November 2010.

Scary One for RIM:

On shifting to a new software platform (as RIM is, subsequently, trying to do): "No other technology company other than Apple has successfully transitioned their platform. It's almost never done, and it's way harder than you realise. This transition is where tech companies go to die." Balsillie, April 2011.

One size fits 25% more than your variety Jim!

On offering a range of products: "Apple has just one product, we have a portfolio. One size doesn't fit all." Balsillie, June 2012.

On mobile trends: "The most exciting mobile trend is full Qwerty keyboards. I'm sorry, it really is. I'm not making this up." Lazaridis, May 2008.

[pythons]

The reason most of the sales people you contact are against BB is because those same people....
...Had floods of people come back after selling them a BB and chewing them a new a -hole.
...Because the BB wasn't able to do what they wanted it to do - stuff Apple and Droid delivered.

So says the carrier reps I know that I deal with....
...Both AT&T and Sprint have told me as much.

These days people who buy a blackberry have a specific need for a phone that BB simply does better.....
...Someone who does not have that "specialized need" is the majority of people looking for a smartphone.
...And if they get a berry they will be pissed, simple as that.

[dbmalloy]

Do not want to hijack the thread... but tempted after reading SugarMouth's post... but want to be respectful....

Time to face some facts... Until 1Q and BB10 lauch... RIM is effectively dead in North America.... so it is not surprising not one is pushing what is essentially an orphaned platform.... To be fair... Costco like all non carrier retailer sells what is either in stock or what makes them the most money..... If it was Android making money guess what sales people will push.... simple logic

Do I think BB10 will be a smashing success at launch.... no... Does RIM think so no... as eveidenced by their own long term financial analysis... I believe it will be a long process but possible with 2 thngs converging... First... they will need top notch carrier support and top app release.

Otherwise game over....