It is the sole stand alone store, as in you have no other reason to stop or look in that general direction or be there other than to buy a blackberry. I have had a berry for years and have had no reason to go in there, it is sad. I might go there this week and just see if I can get a Bold for cheap.
That is a silly location for a BlackBerry store. If anything, DC would be a better location, since government workers use BlackBerry a heck of a lot more than rust belt area residents.
..that store is embarrassing.... At least water the lawn. It looks old, dilapilated, rushed, and not well thought out........ actually, it's in line with the recent product launches so maybe a right on the "money"
The lonely store in US is a totally different picture than here in Asia, or Malaysia at the least. Blackberries are still sought after devices here in Malaysia. The stores are abuzz and every phone retail shop carries the Blackberry brand.
The lonely store in US is a totally different picture than here in Asia, or Malaysia at the least. Blackberries are still sought after devices here in Malaysia. The stores are abuzz and every phone retail shop carries the Blackberry brand.
That's what I have read in the news and seen on CrackBerry. I just hope the Apple disease doesn't effect Malaysia like it has us and now the United Kingdom.
For better or for worse, RIM is still seen as an 'aspirational' brand in emerging markets almost purely on the basis of the fact that it is 'Western' and MUCH more affordable compared to iPhone and Samsung Galaxy phones. Buicks are successfully marketed as semi-luxury cars in China.
Communication is key over there, as mobile tech isn't as app-centric and web browsing-centric over there, so BBs are perfect as they're affordable and generally good quality.
That said, it's the Internet age, and RIM's brand lustre won't last forever, especially as news of its woes will travel and RIM's marketing/PR is probably as dire over there as it is in the West.
Does anyone know the exact amount of revenue RIM still gets around the world from their current inventory? I can imagine it being quite a sum still.
It really baffles me to think they still lack the resources to pull off BB10 within 2012.
Not sure about the actual revenue figures but the overall margins are now negative - broadly they are selling phones at either cost or a loss to pick up subscribers but the subscribers themselves are tending to the poor and the young who are getting cheap curves and the lowest price plans - so the ARPU is on the decline and carriers are also pressing for a larger share of the services revenue.
Concur. I've never been to a Blackberry store, nor had a desire to go to one. Sprint carries the phones I want, or I can order them. As to the Playbook, until recently they were carried at major retail stores, and I can online order those too.
... RIM's marketing/PR is probably as dire over there as it is in the West.
Actually, it is not. There has been some great marketing for RIM in certain countries. While RIM mainly relied on the carriers to do its marketing in the U.S., I believe that in some countries its distributors handled much of the marketing strategy. This was helpful in that this marketing was tuned to local conditions. But the disadvantages are that RIM has a fragmented image around the world and that RIM did not develop its own marketing expertise.
Don't you guys see those little brochures that often accompany these phones on the shelves, this is advertising..and everytime I walk into a store I always get intriqued by the BB curves that look so shiny, and behind them they'd always have these pamphlets . Makes me want to get a cheap Curve.
Is that in Detroit? What a depressed city. I can see stores of all types closed or not getting business.
But the BlackBerry store at the Atlanta airport (the largest airport in the world) is empty constantly and now even selling IPhone accessories. There is no market for BlackBerry, the name is tarnished.
But the BlackBerry store at the Atlanta airport (the largest airport in the world) is empty constantly and now even selling IPhone accessories. There is no market for BlackBerry, the name is tarnished.
That would've been a better story than using Detroit. It may be making a comeback but not long ago it was becoming a ghost town.