BlackBerry�s Heins Says He Won�t Sell $50 Phones

Just thought I'd share this article with you guys, sounds interesting:

"BlackBerry (BBRY), the Canadian smartphone maker, said it’s readying less expensive devices for emerging markets like India, though it has no plans to compete with lower-cost Asian rivals at the $50 to $60 level.
“Understand where you are playing and resist being talked into segments that you know will not serve your purpose and will not result in shareholder value,” Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins said in a question-and-answer session at a conference in BlackBerry’s hometown of Waterloo, Ontario. “You will not see us getting into the 50-, 60-buck phone segment. This is not BlackBerry.”
BlackBerry began selling the Z10 unsubsidized in India last month at a cost of 43,490 rupees ($800), counting on wealthier Indians to build buzz for the company’s new operating system before cheaper BlackBerry 10 models arrive. Sales in emerging markets like Indonesia and India had held up better than in Europe and North America even as sales overall fell by 47 percent last quarter.
“You will see new products being launched this year based on BlackBerry 10, all fully LTE-capable, the whole 10 yards, that are more geared towards those price bands where people need to be,” Heins said.
BlackBerry, formerly known as Research In Motion Ltd. (BB), has maintained higher market share in India helped by the popularity of its free instant-messaging service and lower prices than Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s iPhone. The South Asian nation accounts for about 20 percent of BlackBerry’s Asia-Pacific sales, according to IDC.
Asian rivals that sell low-cost phones in India include China’s ZTE Corp. and Huawei Technologies.
Heins said he was surprised by how well the touch-screen Z10 sold in India after its Feb. 26 debut, with five days’ worth of inventory vanishing in two days.
“I got an emergency call from my manager from India saying, ‘I’m sold out after two days,’” Heins said. “So now we’re scrambling to reload those channels.”
BlackBerry shares fell 1 percent to $13.22 at the close today in New York. The stock has gained 11 percent this year.
To contact the reporter on this story: Hugo Miller in Toronto at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Turner at [email protected]"

We will just see. BlackBerry has made killings in the low end of the market before. I can't see them not continuing to attract buyers in that lower price bracket

You're not apple..

50-60$ Blackberry phones probably wouldn't be able to run BB10 what with the dual core and ram needed they are however looking at the "entry level" segment so it isn't like they are going to forget about that area.

You have to ask yourself at some point: do I want the 50 dollar market, when I'm in a 550 dollar market?

You would need to sell 11x as many phones. And the profit margin would be smaller. The support issues + costs would be greater. And you won't make a lot on app sales @50.

If it were me, I wouldn't do it. Apple made themselves rich by ignoring all lower markets.

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Originally Posted by KermEd

You have to ask yourself at some point: do I want the 50 dollar market, when I'm in a 550 dollar market?

You would need to sell 11x as many phones. And the profit margin would be smaller. The support issues + costs would be greater. And you won't make a lot on app sales @50.

If it were me, I wouldn't do it. Apple made themselves rich by ignoring all lower markets.

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Yep apple was smart once again. Keep selling the older phones as low end.

The volume smartphone market is at the 200 dollar price point. If Nokia can sell a Lumia 520 then so should BB sell a BB5.

“You will see new products being launched this year based on BlackBerry 10, all fully LTE-capable, the whole 10 yards, that are more geared towards those price bands where people need to be,” Heins said.

All fully LTE capable? Why weren't all the Z10's fully LTE capable?

Originally Posted by kevinnugent

“You will see new products being launched this year based on BlackBerry 10, all fully LTE-capable, the whole 10 yards, that are more geared towards those price bands where people need to be,” Heins said.

All fully LTE capable? Why weren't all the Z10's fully LTE capable?

He probably meant LTE-capable where the market can support it. Non-LTE Z10's are only sold in markets where there is no LTE network.

Originally Posted by LazyEvul

He probably meant LTE-capable where the market can support it. Non-LTE Z10's are only sold in markets where there is no LTE network.

I think some of the guys from the Middle East here might disagree with you. :)

Originally Posted by kevinnugent

I think some of the guys from the Middle East here might disagree with you. :)

Hm, I stand corrected. Had no idea there was LTE in those markets, I wonder why BlackBerry opted not to sell the LTE version there in that case. Maybe some irregularity in the frequencies used in the Middle East?

Originally Posted by LazyEvul

Hm, I stand corrected. Had no idea there was LTE in those markets, I wonder why BlackBerry opted not to sell the LTE version there in that case. Maybe some irregularity in the frequencies used in the Middle East?

It will have come down to the carriers not BB, they will have simply wanted to sell as many possible so will have had to provide the one the carrier wanted rather than trying to force them to take the other one even if it was the better option for that network.

Originally Posted by howarmat

We will just see. BlackBerry has made killings in the low end of the market before. I can't see them not continuing to attract buyers in that lower price bracket

As the component costs reduce we will see them expand into lower costs markets, all these comments mean is that they do not intend to get involved in the very lowest end of the market which is the same as the situation now as even the cheapest models sold by BB are not $50 off-contract either.

Originally Posted by kbz1960

Yep apple was smart once again. Keep selling the older phones as low end.

If you look at their off-contract prices, the older models are not being sold as low end, merely lower end than the current newest model, so not really an option for any other company who do actually need to sell some mid and lower range models.

With BIS fees gone it doesn't make any sense for BBRY to stay in the budget market.