[Troy Tiscareno]

Not that I think any BB10 phone is really in production anymore...

The last BB phone to be in production was the PPSE, and the production run had ended before it actually went on sale (it was a small run. We're approaching 2 full years since a BB10 phone was in production.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

The last BB phone to be in production was the PPSE, and the production run had ended before it actually went on sale (it was a small run. We're approaching 2 full years since a BB10 phone was in production.

Probable so... but then wouldn't BlackBerry have had to write off all that inventory. Taught a corporation couldn't just sit of dead inventory hoping it would one day sell. I know there have been a few minor write downs on inventory....

But then you write off some of the value and sell the product later... doesn't that give you a false sense of "breaking even"?

It's really hard to know what BlackBerry is doing and if it's even possible for hardware to be a product for them....

[AmritD]

Don't know how does the DTEK50 being discounted makes sense
It was launched at $299! -_-

Z30STA100-2/10.3.2.2876

[Troy Tiscareno]

Probable so... but then wouldn't BlackBerry have had to write off all that inventory. Taught a corporation couldn't just sit of dead inventory hoping it would one day sell. I know there have been a few minor write downs on inventory....

But then you write off some of the value and sell the product later... doesn't that give you a false sense of "breaking even"?

It's really hard to know what BlackBerry is doing and if it's even possible for hardware to be a product for them....

Writedowns only happen when a company projects sales at a higher average price, and builds a bunch of inventory based on those figures, and then is forced to sell at a significantly lower average price. It's possible that happened with the AT&T Privs (I'm sure AT&T has learned to put language in their purchasing contracts to have manufacturers eat at least SOME of the costs if their products don't sell at a specified level in a given amount of time, forcing a closeout of that inventory), but BB isn't making tens of millions of phones in advance anymore. Such a writedown still wouldn't be great, but BB would have lost in the order of tens of millions, not billions, this time.

But it's normal in manufacturing to create sales projections and then to manufacture inventory to meet those projections all at once, up-front - especially when it's a complex product that cost a lot of money to tool up a production line. They can't afford to make 100k phones every month, because the production lines have to be running constantly in order to make money, and a production line could make several 100k phones a week - but may take 2 full weeks to switch over to a new design, making those switch-overs incredibly costly. In order to be profitable, it requires the company to make very accurate sales projections and then to make one big run that will cover at least 6 months worth of sales, and then give up the production line to someone else (remember: all of BB's phones are actually manufactured by contract partners who make lots of things for lots of companies).

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

Writedowns only happen when a company projects sales at a higher average price, and builds a bunch of inventory based on those figures, and then is forced to sell at a significantly lower average price. It's possible that happened with the AT&T Privs (I'm sure AT&T has learned to put language in their purchasing contracts to have manufacturers eat at least SOME of the costs if their products don't sell at a specified level in a given amount of time, forcing a closeout of that inventory), but BB isn't making tens of millions of phones in advance anymore. Such a writedown still wouldn't be great, but BB would have lost in the order of tens of millions, not billions, this time.

But it's normal in manufacturing to create sales projections and then to manufacture inventory to meet those projections all at once, up-front - especially when it's a complex product that cost a lot of money to tool up a production line. They can't afford to make 100k phones every month, because the production lines have to be running constantly in order to make money, and a production line could make several 100k phones a week - but may take 2 full weeks to switch over to a new design, making those switch-overs incredibly costly. In order to be profitable, it requires the company to make very accurate sales projections and then to make one big run that will cover at least 6 months worth of sales, and then give up the production line to someone else (remember: all of BB's phones are actually manufactured by contract partners who make lots of things for lots of companies).

I get they have to project sales out for "x" number of months.... but the Passport SE was over a year ago. Find it hard to belive that it was "planned" to produce enough of all the BB10 lines that far back. They have sold 400K - 300K each quarter.... That just seems like a lot of inventor to be tied up that long... and how ever much longer it takes to sell out of it.

[Troy Tiscareno]

I get they have to project sales out for "x" number of months.... but the Passport SE was over a year ago. Find it hard to belive that it was "planned" to produce enough of all the BB10 lines that far back. They have sold 400K - 300K each quarter.... That just seems like a lot of inventor to be tied up that long... and how ever much longer it takes to sell out of it.

That 400k per quarter is ALL BB phones, including any left-over Z10s, Q10s, Leaps, Z3s, etc. Which means that they're probably selling 50-60k PPSEs per quarter. If they made, say, 300K of them, they'd still have inventory at those rates.

But, yes, that's a long time to have inventory tied up (and rapidly depreciating). Welcome to what it's been like to be BB for the last several years!

[world traveler and former ceo]

BlackBerry May Soon Leave Hardware Business (BBRY) | Investopedia

Trash article with no basis on facts...

Posted via CB10

[Troy Tiscareno]

Trash article with no basis on facts...

I'm pretty sure that one of the main basis in fact was Chen himself saying "if the phone business isn't profitable by Sept 2016 or so, we won't continue in it." And it's pretty obvious that the phone business hasn't been profitable, because sales volumes have been so low.

Chen has done an amazing job of reducing BB's costs, so that they're losing far less money now (and less money per phone sold), but the business has been continuously in the red for years already.

[RawDil]

BlackBerry isn't a big player to stress about leaks. They should just go ahead and announce it.

Posted via CB10

[ray689]

No. They said two devices - DTEK50 and pkb device.

Guess that wasn't the case after all.

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[conite]

Guess that wasn't the case after all.

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

BlackBerry has always stated two devices. Rumours always stated three.

BlackBerry kept the Argon close to the vest in case it didn't happen.

[The Big Picture]

With the dtek60 now looks like it was all premature.

Hope the rome/mercury will be announced soon. That's the one I see making a difference.

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[Bfalcon1]

They very may well exit the hardware business since they are now a software company. I think you'll see their services, apps like the Hub etc...On other brands product. Why not a partnership with Samsung? Buy a Samsung phone with a Priv feel? I am just speculating but phones have become a commodity and the real money will be in the services.

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[Troy Tiscareno]

Why not a partnership with Samsung?

How would such a partnership benefit Samsung? Without at least one very realistic answer to that question (that would overcome the several reasons for Samsung not to do so), there's no point in thinking about it. And that reason isn't going to be "they'll sell more phones", because the amount of phones that BB sells in a year is a quarterly rounding error for Samsung.

[Tstark14]

Every news source I read says September 28th. For those of us who like to purchase cheap phones, how soon do you think we could expect (real) markdowns on PPSE or Priv (i.e. Under $200 USD) on third party sites like Amazon?

I guess my thought is if they discontinue hardware, retailers will be looking to remove inventory.

Posted via CB10

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

Every news source I read says September 28th. For those of us who like to purchase cheap phones, how soon do you think we could expect (real) markdowns on PPSE or Priv (i.e. Under $200 USD) on third party sites like Amazon?

I guess my thought is if they discontinue hardware, retailers will be looking to remove inventory.

Posted via CB10

I really don't expect some announcement and the next day they clearance all device...

[koebi90]

If they exit the hardware business: at least I know, that ist is not my fault...




Posted via CB10

[koebi90]

ShopBlackBerry launched a new promotion selling the PRIV for only 447 euro, which is 110 euro cheaper than on amazon...

that is scary...

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[gebco]

I don't think Google makes the Nexus phones. Apple doesn't make the iPhone. Hopefully if BlackBerry gets out, they simply mean they'll continue to outsource like they have already. I'm not sure I'd buy a non BlackBerry Android.

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[Tstark14]

I don't either. Yet, if I'm trying to find a good time to buy at a bargain, I was seeing what opinions existed.

Posted via CB10

[MPdeH]

I don't think Google makes the Nexus phones. Apple doesn't make the iPhone. Hopefully if BlackBerry gets out, they simply mean they'll continue to outsource like they have already. I'm not sure I'd buy a non BlackBerry Android.

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

Blackberry is now a secure software company. They will "exit" the hardware market by getting rid of all the BlackBerry 10 phones, and giving it limited updates for its current corporate and government clients. Passport, Leap and Classic are dead.

But I do believe they will continue to sell BlackBerry branded smartphones in partnership with TCL. To showcase their software.

It's the same as what happened with Philips tv's. Philips "quit" the television market by outsourcing their manufacturer to TP Vision. TP Vision (a Dutch Chinese joint venture) now makes and sells Philips branded tv's. In the future BlackBerry will fully focus on software while TCL makes the hardware.

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android