[BerryPirate]

How can BlackBerry survive when no name Android phones can be had for 150 bucks off contract at whatever screen size you like? Just look at a company like xylo
Even Apple is taking a massive hit because of this arms race over price and screen size.

[howarmat]

Yep...the markets that once bought curves all the time now can get androids and windows phones for even cheaper while BB10 low cost Q5 is about $350-400

[BBThemes]

is that the android manufacturers fault for low cost devices, or BlackBerrys fault for not releasing a new low cost device?

[cgk]

It's not simply bargain basement android - Nokia is starting to eat their lunch in the enterprise sector as well - look at recent press releases from both companies and notice the difference in scale in the companies mentioned.

[Poirots Progeny]

Yep...the markets that once bought curves all the time now can get androids and windows phones for even cheaper while BB10 low cost Q5 is about $350-400

I agree 100% sadly!

BlackBerry needs to be more competitive oon price!

Posted via CB10 on my BlackBerry Q10

[hannes89]

It's time for a Z5 kind of phone!

Posted via CB10

[JeepBB]

It's time for a Z5 kind of phone!

Posted via CB10

Unless a Z5 can be sold for the same kind of money as those android/WP budget phones... Then a Z5 will have the same fate as the Q5... It'll tank, badly!

At least the Q5 has a differentiator, the keyboard, the Z5 wouldn't have anything over the competition, and would very likely be much more expensive if the Q5 is any guide.

[sinsin07]

Could be a result of 3 bil in cash and no debt. No way to lock up supply chain.

[Asmooh]

Crappy devices are always cheap

Posted via CB10

[theRock1975]

Could be a result of 3 bil in cash and no debt. No way to lock up supply chain.

Z10 and Q10 specs are mid to high range and the sale price is comparable to other competitors(HTC, Samsung). I don't think locking up supply chains would push the phone prices down to $150.



Posted via CB10

[theRock1975]

Unless a Z5 can be sold for the same kind of money as those android/WP budget phones... Then a Z5 will have the same fate as the Q5... It'll tank, badly!

At least the Q5 has a differentiator, the keyboard, the Z5 wouldn't have anything over the competition, and would very likely be much more expensive if the Q5 is any guide.

The differentiator would be bb10. If someone prefers the bb10 UI or wants peek/flow or the amazing keyboard AND doesn't mind lower speed cpu and a 2 mp camera and low res screen. Why not a Z5 over an LG Whatever, or Lumia 600.

Posted via CB10

[frinzo]

I bought Nokia Window Phone Lumia 520 for less then $200. Bought it just to try it out. Not bad though.

Posted via CB10

[kbz1960]

I thought BBRY wasn't worried about all that? Those aren't BBRY people are they? Isn't that what they have targeted? BBRY people and only that?

[JeepBB]

Why not a Z5 over an LG Whatever, or Lumia 600.

Posted via CB10

Price, my friend, price.

In that budget market, it's all about minimising the price of the handset & running costs whilst maximising the bang/buck ratio. Unless the Z5 (or Q5 for that matter) can match the price of those android/winphone alternatives, I don't believe they'll be selling many of them.

I realise we're on different pages and will likely never agree on this, but I don't believe BB10 is as much of a "must have" to the average buyer as you seem to believe (and certainly not in the budget market). If BB10 were such a big draw, the Z10 and Q10 would be selling like hot cakes.

IMO, and the opinion of others I've seen, increasingly the big draw to any phone is the ecosystem that each platform offers. And, if I were a buyer with limited cash, the android phone (providing access to their ecosystem) would win every time.

TL,DR; Z5 is doomed before its even made.

[sinsin07]

Z10 and Q10 specs are mid to high range and the sale price is comparable to other competitors(HTC, Samsung). I don't think locking up supply chains would push the phone prices down to $150.

Comparable is not sufficient. The market has shown this.

[TDSWIM]

I'm going to look into Nokia's press releases and see what kind of deals they're striking. They're eating BlackBerry's lunch bigtime in enterprise?

[berklon]

I bought Nokia Window Phone Lumia 520 for less then $200. Bought it just to try it out. Not bad though.

Less than $200? It's a lot less than that. I bought mine pre-paid for $129 a few weeks back... and you can still get it for $149 today. The 520 may be Nokia's low-end phone, but it really doesn't feel like it. It's got most of the goodies a higher end phone has. It really is a nice device and it's selling like gang-busters everywhere now. Smart move by Nokia/MS.

[TgeekB]

Crappy devices are always cheap

Posted via CB10

That's your opinion but obviously not the opinion of the people buying them, and that's all that matters.

[RubberChicken76]

I'm going to look into Nokia's press releases and see what kind of deals they're striking. They're eating BlackBerry's lunch bigtime in enterprise?

"big time" is pushing it when it comes to Windows Phone in enterprise right now as they still have a tiny penetration in the corporate issued enterprise market. But they have had a couple of wins which they are crowing about (and should).

[RubberChicken76]

Unless a Z5 can be sold for the same kind of money as those android/WP budget phones...

This is why i'm struggling with the fact that they haven't figured out how to make BlackBerry 10 work on half the RAM yet. Logic would dictate that the real reason for doing so would be to make the curve successor more cost affordable. I know people think about this in terms of the PlayBook, but that would have been a side benefit to the main course which was lower Cost Of Goods on a high volume, low priced phone.

Doesn't make sense to me that the Q5 has among the highest RAM in the industry right now.

[Rigomorfin]

I got my BlackBerry z10 at Costco. It was basically free. All I payed was taxes of from! 270

Posted via CB10

[axeman1000]

So that would skew the numbers then I guess as if you buy a crappy phone chances are you are replacing it fairly quickly. So that would mean it's a two to one count only because the DROID cheap phones are junk and break easy.

Sorry but I will choose quality every time. I love my blackberry.

Posted via CB10

[BBUniq01]

I agree. My daughter wanted a BlackBerry but I was not going to fork out tons of money for a 13 year old's phone. She did end up getting the My Touch with a slider keyboard. She wanted to wait for the Q5 but even that price point was too high for my budget.

Curve 8320, Bold 9780, Bold 9900, PB 64gb, Z10

[kevets]

Everyone is looking for these to be bargain basement phones, but if you search eBay or marketplaces like that for phone prices, we are on par or in some cases a very good deal for a phone with 2GB RAM!

Samsung S3 had 1GB of RAM at most. S4 finally has 2GB of RAM as well as the other top-level Android phones. iPhone 5 is lagging behind with 1GB of RAM still but people don't care because, iOS.

For the most part, these BB10 devices are not bargain basement at all. Dual core vs. Quad core CPU is about the only difference you still have. It's tough because there are no low-end BB10 devices yet. The Q5 should be the Lumia 520 of our lineup, but it has a dual core 1.2GHz CPU and 2GB RAM. The Lumia has a Dual core 1GHz CPU and 512MB RAM so they are able to save there in real estate as well as component costs I'm sure.

The question now I think is, can BlackBerry outlast this cheap phone onslaught? It won't be until people see a true high-end BB10 device that starts to blow people away. Users need to start seeing that BB can "be better" than something, anything even. Is a Q5 better than a Lumia 520 or a HTC One VX (both can be had for $200 or less)? I'd say heck yeah, but I don't think people will be willing to pay a $200 or $300 premium over those devices to get a Q5.

At the $200 price point, the Q5 ROCKS! At $300,400,500... not as much.

[JeepBB]

Crappy devices are always cheap

Posted via CB10

Often that's true, but the reverse isn't.

(relatively) cheap devices are not always crap.

In fact, the Lumia 520 I picked up to keep in my glovebox as my emergency spare is remarkably well made. And I'm sure the budget Android devices are equally well made.

Shoddy items won't sell, even in the budget market. Actually, I'd argue quality is especially important in the budget market... if I'm on a shoestring budget, I won't risk wasting what little money I have on something that looks like it wouldn't last the week. If money is less tight, I might take a risk.

The 520 may not have the 2GB of the Q10, but it still manages to be zippy and responsive. I am yet to be convinced that BB10 is scalable. If BB are fitting "budget" phones with 2GB RAM, it's because the OS needs 2GB RAM. Any other explanation for over-spec'ing wouldn't make any sense.