[sorinv]

While I am unhappy with the low BlackBerry numbers, it's clear from John Chen's repeated statements that the consumer market is not BlackBerry's current focus.

(Maybe it never was...)

Posted via CB10

This is cognitive dissonance. Few are adopting it for business use. Everyone here who has a Priv seems to love it for google services, apps and entertainment, not for security or privacy, or business communication prowess.
Chen merely repeats the same mistake Heins made when they introduced BB10 by not making it fully backwards compatible with bBOS.
Priv has not carried over all the features of BB10 that people appreciated.
Both then and now there were technical difficulties, cost, and delays associated with such backwards compatibility which is critical and absolutely necessary for any transition. Think colour TV and B/W TV. HDTV and standard TV, a.s.o.

[GadgetTravel]

Both companies share something: Silicon Valley bean counter CEOs who lack vision and aren't willing to commit resources to their respective mobile platforms.

Microsoft has spent a lot of money on mobile. Just not successfully.

[JeepBB]

I always wonder if those numbers are for American market only, or worldwide. I've seen a good number of BB10 device where I live, but almost no Windows phone.

<stares into crystal ball> ... the mists are clearing... You live in North America... I see snow... Canada? Maybe near Toronto...?

How'd I do?

Yes, the figures are a worldwide average, which means there are regional peaks and valleys. BB still have an above-average share in Canada, WinPhone has always done better in Europe.

Neither BB nor MS should be overly buoyed by those (relative) hotspots because the global share is pitiful for both and getting worse.

[xtremeled]

Thanks for posting this. I can't be the only person concerned by saturation of Android and ios in the cell phone market. Soon they will be the only options in North America. I just wonder when people will get bored of having the same phone as everyone else and start looking for something different?

Posted via CB10

Like one other phone makes that much of a difference?

[xtremeled]

This is cognitive dissonance. Few are adopting it for business use. Everyone here who has a Priv seems to love it for google services, apps and entertainment, not for security or privacy, or business communication prowess.
Chen merely repeats the same mistake Heins made when they introduced BB10 by not making it fully backwards compatible with bBOS.
Priv has not carried over all the features of BB10 that people appreciated.
Both then and now there were technical difficulties, cost, and delays associated with such backwards compatibility which is critical and absolutely necessary for any transition. Think colour TV and B/W TV. HDTV and standard TV, a.s.o.

This behavior has a name, It's called FAILURE!!!!

[bh7171]

BlackBerry should embrace what they have become in regards to BlackBerry 10 as a very small niche (maybe show some bearded male hipsters in flannels) - market to it- "ha yeah right!" and continue on the path they have with Android for all those productivity apps consumers need. Dual marketing showing ones options? (Read Jerry Hildenbrand's recent editorial on Android Central as to the mess Android is at present and who is keeping their devices and users secure (Nexus and BlackBerry). The problem is people pay lip service to security and their wallets rarely mesh with what the market shows. You could run an ad that said "who cares about security (you have already provided us with more personal information than we need- and we will keep you safe unlike your spying government) we have games and games and more FREE games that will data mine you like crazy!" And since the vast majority I see when out hand their mobile device to their kid to keep from interacting with them while out to lunch or dinner games win. I will say Apple's recent PR ploy against helping the government that provides security for them and their families against a POS murdering Jihadist device is smart.

Z10 on 10.3.2

[SunshineStateFlyer]

Unfortunately this is not really news. BlackBerry share has been on a constant drop for years now and the figures are slightly different depending on whom you ask, but they're always bad.

I'm wondering how many of those BlackBerry users are corporate users and how many of them are still on BBOS.

Maybe BB10 is even going to entirely disappear before BBOS does, who knows, but by now it is pretty clear that BlackBerry without Android won't go anywhere.

Posted via CB10

[ohaiguise]

I couldn't care less if it was 1%, 0.1% or 0.01% ... I just want my BlackBerry 10 experience.

[hjc73734]

I use to work retail in the financial district of my major city and I've seen 4 BlackBerrys in the wild. One guy had a Z10, one lady with a Passport, a tourist with a Passport, and another business woman with a Bold. So yea, out of the thousands of people that pass through my workplace, I've noticed 4. Sure there could be more, but just based on visuals alone, the majority was iPhones and Samsungs.

[onlybuggin]

The article is about OS saturation not brand (although those comparisons would be similar). Some of that BlackBerry drop is the movement of folks from 0S10 to the Priv (android).


Posted via CB10

[donnation]

Thanks for posting this. I can't be the only person concerned by saturation of Android and ios in the cell phone market. Soon they will be the only options in North America. I just wonder when people will get bored of having the same phone as everyone else and start looking for something different?

Posted via CB10

What is it different that they are going to get? Most people use their phones for talking, messaging, and apps, and BB10 isn't going to do anything different for them that they aren't already getting now, except less apps.

[cbvinh]

This is cognitive dissonance. Few are adopting it for business use. Everyone here who has a Priv seems to love it for google services, apps and entertainment, not for security or privacy, or business communication prowess.
Chen merely repeats the same mistake Heins made when they introduced BB10 by not making it fully backwards compatible with bBOS.
Priv has not carried over all the features of BB10 that people appreciated.
Both then and now there were technical difficulties, cost, and delays associated with such backwards compatibility which is critical and absolutely necessary for any transition. Think colour TV and B/W TV. HDTV and standard TV, a.s.o.

I think you're using the wrong terminology. The mistake was not making the new devices feature consistent, not "backwards compatible", which means the new devices could run the older device's apps.

BB10, when launched, lacked many of the features users came to expect from BBOS. Now, BB10 is more full-featured, but it's a bit too late, as users have switched to elsewhere, and there's still the apps issue.

PRIV's BB10 app suite doesn't have all the features users have come to expect, like full Hub or Blend. However, BlackBerry did leave Android fairly stock, which Android users want.

[ToniCipriani]

Android as republican and ios as democrats..wp as tea party..blackberry as cocktail party

Passport SE

Well better than iOS as the Worker's Party of the DPRK I suppose, with Tim Jong Un as the Supreme Leader.

[StoicEngineer]

I couldn't care less if it was 1%, 0.1% or 0.01% ... I just want my BlackBerry 10 experience.

The reason to care is that you won't have a BlackBerry 10 experience when there is no OS10. Blackberry isn't going to support one or two users for old times sake.

[sorinv]

I think you're using the wrong terminology. The mistake was not making the new devices feature consistent, not "backwards compatible", which means the new devices could run the older device's apps.

BB10, when launched, lacked many of the features users came to expect from BBOS. Now, BB10 is more full-featured, but it's a bit too late, as users have switched to elsewhere, and there's still the apps issue.

PRIV's BB10 app suite doesn't have all the features users have come to expect, like full Hub or Blend. However, BlackBerry did leave Android fairly stock, which Android users want.

And therein lies the dissonance: consumer vs. business.
It's always one or the other, never both.

What bb10 and android users want, another conflict.
Getting android users while losing BB10 users: another self-defeating trend.

Announced the company was for sale while launching Z30.

Announced Priv yet saying that they may go out of hardware if it doesn't sell. Self-fulfilling prophesy.


There are conflicts and contradictions everywhere in everything BlackBerry has been doing since the launch of BB10.

Priv itself is the epitomy of cognitive dissonance.
There is no privacy in the priv:
You are forced to create a Google account to be more thoroughly and methodically data mined.
Phone is backed up unencrypted on Google cloud (now we know Apple does the same).

If people want both apps and privacy, they are better off with the Iphone than with the Priv.


If they want privacy and security, but few apps (sufficient for me) BB10 is the solution, but BlackBerry are doing their best to discourage any development of consumer apps for BB10.

All of the above are contradictions that are obvious to anyone who cares to look.

[johnny_bravo72]

I couldn't care less if it was 1%, 0.1% or 0.01% ... I just want my BlackBerry 10 experience.

Just do what the rest of the other diehards do... Stockpile on current BB10 devices.

*ME173X

[Skidoo583]

In our group of friends and family there has been 11 people that were android phone owners that have just recently switched to iPhone.

Posted via CB10

[southlander]

This is cognitive dissonance. Few are adopting it for business use.

Buying a phone purely for business use is not something most folks seem to do.

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[cbvinh]

And therein lies the dissonance: consumer vs. business.
It's always one or the other, never both.

What bb10 and android users want, another conflict.
Getting android users while losing BB10 users: another self-defeating trend.

Announced the company was for sale while launching Z30.

Announced Priv yet saying that they may go out of hardware if it doesn't sell. Self-fulfilling prophesy.


There are conflicts and contradictions everywhere in everything BlackBerry has been doing since the launch of BB10.

Priv itself is the epitomy of cognitive dissonance.
There is no privacy in the priv:
You are forced to create a Google account to be more thoroughly and methodically data mined.
Phone is backed up unencrypted on Google cloud (now we know Apple does the same).

If people want both apps and privacy, they are better off with the Iphone than with the Priv.


If they want privacy and security, but few apps (sufficient for me) BB10 is the solution, but BlackBerry are doing their best to discourage any development of consumer apps for BB10.

All of the above are contradictions that are obvious to anyone who cares to look.

Well, realistically, BB10 without a BES server is no better than Android. Android just gets attacked more and BB10 benefits from being obscure.

BlackBerry going Android was the only logical solution they could come to. iOS can't be licensed. Windows Phone is in the same obscure situation as BB10. Sailfish, Tizen, etc. aren't mature enough and BlackBerry can't wait. Only Android could be gotten and it delivers the apps that most people want, even if you don't.

Once the decision to go Android was made, BlackBerry did it in the best way possible. BlackBerry left the PRIV as close to stock as possible, which does two things: 1. For the Android user, it's the coveted way the device needs to be. 2. Less OS development, which saves money, and more focus on BlackBerry apps, the differentiator. (Other Android manufacturers have to resort to OS tweaks to differentiate.)

[StoicEngineer]

Once the decision to go Android was made, BlackBerry did it in the best way possible. BlackBerry left the PRIV as close to stock as possible, which does two things: 1. For the Android user, it's the coveted way the device needs to be. 2. Less OS development, which saves money, and more focus on BlackBerry apps, the differentiator. (Other Android manufacturers have to resort to OS tweaks to differentiate.)

Don't forget that BlackBerry's method also promotes improved security for the BlackBerry flavour of Android OS. That is, it is easier/faster to implement security upgrades.

[brianwiebe]

I'm in Central California and I always joke that I'm the last BlackBerry user in the state. In 4 years of BlackBerry use (Bold 9900-Z10-PPSE) I've seen one Q10, one Bold, one older BBOS, and one Passport - and the Passport was a guy visiting from Toronto! I so love my passport, but it's lonely and I get teased a lot...lol...the AT&T Store people had no idea what this phone is when I went in for a Sim card...it's all so sad.

I think BlackBerry will be a source of case studies for many business schools. Instead of "Good to Great" it will be "Good to Gone".

Btw, I use my old Bold as a Pandora player (no ads ever, free account) and my Z10 as a backup/alternate.

BPWiebe on the beautiful Silver Edition Passport.

[bh7171]

Your not alone Brian. I proudly rock my BlackBerry's here in Sacramento and I see BlackBerry' around. Mainly Classic's and a Passport here and there. I love giving my 19 yo employee that spent 1000 on her 128 GB iPhone 6 in '14 that can't multitask like my Z30 a hard time. She marvels at moving between apps (Active frames), email (the HUB), type and flick, signal reception and call quality. I got mine @ Thanksgiving '14 for $225 unlocked and direct @ the same time she got hers. She's spent a lot more since as she has replaced a cracked screen twice since. Marketing is such a misunderstood concept for BlackBerry. When I launch 3-4 apps with keyboard shortcuts from my Classic (or compose a message) her response was "that's sick" how come I don't see more people with BlackBerry? My response is always "because BlackBerry cannot market like Apple or Samsung."

The newest member....Cobalt Classic

[sorinv]

Well, realistically, BB10 without a BES server is no better than Android. Android just gets attacked more and BB10 benefits from being obscure.

BlackBerry going Android was the only logical solution they could come to. iOS can't be licensed. Windows Phone is in the same obscure situation as BB10. Sailfish, Tizen, etc. aren't mature enough and BlackBerry can't wait. Only Android could be gotten and it delivers the apps that most people want, even if you don't.

Once the decision to go Android was made, BlackBerry did it in the best way possible. BlackBerry left the PRIV as close to stock as possible, which does two things: 1. For the Android user, it's the coveted way the device needs to be. 2. Less OS development, which saves money, and more focus on BlackBerry apps, the differentiator. (Other Android manufacturers have to resort to OS tweaks to differentiate.)

You have not read my post carefully.
It was mostly about contradictions and backwards compatibility, which Priv does not really offer, or else we would not see everyone with a Priv writing that the hub is a disappointment compared to BB10.

I wasn't commenting on whether the decision to go android was good or bad or justified.

All I wrote was that it wasn't done properly, with backwards compatibility, to retain all existing user base. Just like the one from BBOS to BB10 was not done with backward compatibility.
My understanding is that the same problem was with BES 10, which did not support BBOS devices.

[tangozulu]

Well talked to a friend last night who works for a Department of the Canadian Government. He said his office will soon be upgrading to Classics. Anyways he currently has a BBOS Curve that is like 8 years old. Talk about good bang for the buck and can't say the Government hasn't got good value. My only complaint is why take so long to upgrade when this company could have used the help years ago.
Better late than sorry.

Posted via CB10

[TgeekB]

Your not alone Brian. I proudly rock my BlackBerry's here in Sacramento and I see BlackBerry' around. Mainly Classic's and a Passport here and there. I love giving my 19 yo employee that spent 1000 on her 128 GB iPhone 6 in '14 that can't multitask like my Z30 a hard time. She marvels at moving between apps (Active frames), email (the HUB), type and flick, signal reception and call quality. I got mine @ Thanksgiving '14 for $225 unlocked and direct @ the same time she got hers. She's spent a lot more since as she has replaced a cracked screen twice since. Marketing is such a misunderstood concept for BlackBerry. When I launch 3-4 apps with keyboard shortcuts from my Classic (or compose a message) her response was "that's sick" how come I don't see more people with BlackBerry? My response is always "because BlackBerry cannot market like Apple or Samsung."

The newest member....Cobalt Classic

Is she getting one?