[djrupey]

Well, this article says it all. It's just over a year now since the Z10 and BB10 os was launched in the UK, and it has done nothing to stem the loss of market share to competing OSs, especially Android. Sadly this proves that having a technically equivalent or even superior product is not enough; it's all in the marketing, and as I have said before, BB's marketing is beyond dismal.

I've had my Z10 for over a year now and it has been flawless. I love it. Sadly nobody I know shares my enthusiasm, in fact quite the opposite: they take pleasure in running BlackBerry down, still convinced that it means legacy devices with the old os. Few people seem to know or even care that BB10 is all new and has tremendous potential. Being able to download OTA with 10.2.1 and run Android apps says it all, yet it impresses nobody.

This is all very sad and I fear that unless BB pull a rabbit out of the hat during the next twelve months and reverse their market slide into oblivion, I will be obliged to join the ranks of Android users when my contract ends in Feb 2015, simply so that I can stay abreast of all the across-the-board functionality that the Android ecosphere brings.

It's no use bringing up the same old technical and UI comparisons that I see endlessly debated on Crackberry. Like I said, consumers don't care, and as far as I can see BB no longer has the resources for a marketing blitz or a ground-breaking USP that gets everyone talking about the brand. But I'd love to be proved wrong.

Windows Phone momentum grows as phablets find mixed fortunes | Technology | theguardian.com

[David Murray1]

Sad. But no matter what, I'm not going to get a Windows Phone, iPhone or Android - ever.

[kbz1960]

Do you think adding back the trackpad and buttons will help turn things around?


Curious as I don't think it will.

[Bbnivende]

This whole Android malware issue scares me off. I will go WP8 or iOS if BB does not make a phone that I want.

[BBstarBB]

Shares for BlackBerry up 8% today in early monday trading...Cbc.ca..

[KemKev]

I think that right now we have to and should expect the daily news regarding BBRY to be similar to a roller coaster ride. Yes, we would love to see the market share numbers go up but that is not going to happen overnight. However, let us keep the faith that Chen and his team know what they are doing. The company doesn't have the resources to compete directly with Apple and the others and so I believe the "new" BBRY will be smaller, more focused, and most importantly, profitable.

[KemKev]

Do you think adding back the trackpad and buttons will help turn things around?

Curious as I don't think it will.

There will be users who want those functionalities. I think a good strategy is to have different types of devices - touch screen (like the Z10); QWERTY (like the Q10); and the rumoured Z3 with the trackball and buttons. Supposedly, some things still mean a lot to hard core BBOS users.

[Ment]

Shares for BlackBerry up 8% today in early monday trading...Cbc.ca..

Has to do with BBM coming to WinPhone. The low marketshare has already been priced into the stock. The stock market believes BB will be a profitable software services company not a money losing mobile phone company.

[djrupey]

Do you think adding back the trackpad and buttons will help turn things around?


Curious as I don't think it will.

No, I don't. It may help attract customers who appreciate those features but it isn't going to reverse the decline. Nokia have the right idea, they've just launched three inexpensive phones running Android. These basic-spec phones will probably sell well in emerging markets, and the youth market in established territories such as the UK. I hope this BB Q3 that I read about can do the same.

[David Murray1]

Do you think adding back the trackpad and buttons will help turn things around?


Curious as I don't think it will.

Why be a jerk about it? If it sells phones and makes profit for BB so that they can continue to make touch-only devices just for you then why are you complaining?

[djrupey]

Well for the record I am so pleased with the performance and functionality of my Z10 during the past year that I will stick with BlackBerry for as long as they satisfy my needs. I hope that will be a long time.

[silversmith75]

Well it's not going to go up when a year later carrier's pull all devices off the shelf. You cant buy what's not there. I still see phones 2-3 years old still for sale but all BlackBerry devises are gone. So market share is going nowhere but down until they get there phoned back on the shelf.

Posted via CB10

[1magine]

Well it's not going to go up when a year later carrier's pull all devices off the shelf. You cant buy what's not there. I still see phones 2-3 years old still for sale but all BlackBerry devises are gone. So market share is going nowhere but down until they get there phoned back on the shelf.

Posted via CB10

Sadly true. You can not get a Verizon Z30 in any Verizon brick and mortar stores. If they had discounted the phone from the start, even as a loss leader, they would be in a far better position today with regard to market penetration. The fact that Verizon has the Z30 at $500 off contract and won't keep stock in their stores harms BBRY. And this is playing out similarly in Europe, Asia Canada and Mexico. Why write down, write off and destroy stock, when you can flood the market. The devices are made. The parts suppliers and manufacturers paid. If you are going to have large 'book' losses, why not get something out of it, like market penetration and good will? More folks that have a decent BB10 device, better it bodes for the future of BB. Right now not enough people even see BB10 devices or know they exist.

[Troy Tiscareno]

Sadly true. You can not get a Verizon Z30 in any Verizon brick and mortar stores. If they had discounted the phone from the start, even as a loss leader, they would be in a far better position today with regard to market penetration. The fact that Verizon has the Z30 at $500 off contract and won't keep stock in their stores harms BBRY. And this is playing out similarly in Europe, Asia Canada and Mexico. Why write down, write off and destroy stock, when you can flood the market. The devices are made. The parts suppliers and manufacturers paid. If you are going to have large 'book' losses, why not get something out of it, like market penetration and good will? More folks that have a decent BB10 device, better it bodes for the future of BB. Right now not enough people even see BB10 devices or know they exist.

A couple of reasons.

1. Chen is hoping to sell the existing phones (Z10, Q10, Z30, Q5) to enterprises, and hoping to get near full retail for them. No guarantee that this will happen, but here's the problem: BB doesn't have any other phones to sell them, and if they don't make money off of the phones they have in inventory, they'll have no money to make new ones in the future. The ONLY hope of the hardware business surviving is to make a PROFIT off of the phones that are already produced and paid for. If Chen blew out the phones at a loss, and then Boeing comes along and wants to buy 100,000 Z30s, BB would be screwed. Remember: other than the Foxconn deal, BB no longer has any manufacturing partners for hardware.

2. A LOT is riding on the success of the Jakarta phone. If that phone doesn't sell in BIG numbers, BB may well pull the plug on hardware completely. Chen's interview in Globe And Mail today even mentioned that he's not sure if the hardware business will survive. That's right from the CEO's lips.

Over all, Chen wants BlackBerry to transform itself from being a “mobile technology company” that pushes handset sales to “a mobile solution company” that takes a broader approach to serving the mobile computing needs of its customers. Remaining in the handset business is important—for now, at least. “I think devices are still one component of the solution,” Chen says. “The question is, Do we need to be in the device business? That remains to be seen.”

Chen's job is to make sure BB - the company- survives and makes a profit. If the handset business can't help BB do that, and over the last year, it has instead caused huge losses, then sooner or later, that business will be abandoned. Chen is a software-and-services guy, not a hardware guy, so while he'd LIKE to keep making handsets, whether BB does or not is all up to the sales of the product. No sales? No product.

[kbz1960]

A couple of reasons.

1. Chen is hoping to sell the existing phones (Z10, Q10, Z30, Q5) to enterprises, and hoping to get near full retail for them. No guarantee that this will happen, but here's the problem: BB doesn't have any other phones to sell them, and if they don't make money off of the phones they have in inventory, they'll have no money to make new ones in the future. The ONLY hope of the hardware business surviving is to make a PROFIT off of the phones that are already produced and paid for. If Chen blew out the phones at a loss, and then Boeing comes along and wants to buy 100,000 Z30s, BB would be screwed. Remember: other than the Foxconn deal, BB no longer has any manufacturing partners for hardware.

2. A LOT is riding on the success of the Jakarta phone. If that phone doesn't sell in BIG numbers, BB may well pull the plug on hardware completely. Chen's interview in Globe And Mail today even mentioned that he's not sure if the hardware business will survive. That's right from the CEO's lips.



Chen's job is to make sure BB - the company- survives and makes a profit. If the handset business can't help BB do that, and over the last year, it has instead caused huge losses, then sooner or later, that business will be abandoned. Chen is a software-and-services guy, not a hardware guy, so while he'd LIKE to keep making handsets, whether BB does or not is all up to the sales of the product. No sales? No product.

But they are making a new phone with a belt?

[Wiki Cydia]

Why be a jerk about it?

There was nothing "jerk"-like about the post you quoted.

If it sells phones and makes profit for BB so that they can continue to make touch-only devices just for you then why are you complaining?

But this is the question: will the device sell enough to be profitable? On the one hand I'd say that BBRY knows their customers and potential customers better than anyone. But that was also true of the company when it launched the Z10, and that didn't turn out well. Certainly, if we knew right now that the device would sell well enough to be profitable, it'd be easy to call the decision right. But we don't know that yet.

[bigglybobblyboo]

Well it's not going to go up when a year later carrier's pull all devices off the shelf. You cant buy what's not there. I still see phones 2-3 years old still for sale but all BlackBerry devises are gone. So market share is going nowhere but down until they get there phoned back on the shelf.

Posted via CB10

This.

Simple as.

And you're going to see it continue until Chen decides to re push the marketing button at which point carrier relations will have been sorted.

No point in worrying about the past right now, he'll do it when he's good and ready.

Posted via CB10

[kbz1960]

This.

Simple as.

And you're going to see it continue until Chen decides to re push the marketing button at which point carrier relations will have been sorted.

No point in worrying about the past right now, he'll do it when he's good and ready.

Posted via CB10

Soon then

[cgk]

Well, this article says it all. It's just over a year now since the Z10 and BB10 os was launched in the UK, and it has done nothing to stem the loss of market share to competing OSs, especially Android. Sadly this proves that having a technically equivalent or even superior product is not enough; it's all in the marketing, and as I have said before, BB's marketing is beyond dismal.

Those figures are actually worse than they first appear given that legacy outsells BB10 at 2:1 according to last figures - in some markets, BB10 sales must be so low as impossible to actually work out.

[JeepBB]

Legacy outsells BB10 3:1 actually. BB's own figures from last ER.

JBB

[kbz1960]

Legacy outsells BB10 3:1 actually. BB's own figures from last ER.

JBB

Ouch. And is BBOS still declining in sales also?

[boeingrules]

Sad. But no matter what, I'm not going to get a Windows Phone, iPhone or Android - ever.

That doesn't leave you with very many options... What if Blackberry dies off? You have like, the China phones or phone booths. (Not that there's anything wrong with either of them.)