BlackBerry's Next Moves/Deadlines: Discussion and Speculation
Hey everyone,
I wanted to get people's input on some very important deadlines coming for BB in the remainder of the year.
First off, we have had 3 devices announced/released out of a possible six that they talked about on previous occasions. That bears the question of not so much what devices, but when? Seeing at their software timelines, it looks like there won't be a 10.2 for a little while (SDK in june, so testing, blah blah means we probably will have to wait until July or August). Also Apple will be releasing an iPhone around then as usual, and who knows what other devices will be announced.
Therefore, what are we looking at here? Another device in time for the back to school season, and one more for the Christmas season; that leaves one more device at some other point. If BB is going to continue following the trend they have walked on this year, we might see the 10.2 update released and a new phone announced then, probably for release in August all over and September for the US.
Then we fast forward and the Aristo (A10 as I like to call it, or Z15 as others do) will have to be the one released for Christmas. So that means they have to announce in October, and released in November all over with the US again coming in December.
As it stands, we have seen updates in the softwareand devices being released together almost (except for the US... sorry guys, I feel for you). So it makes sense for the 10.2 update to come when the Back to School season comes and another device released then. If so, 10.3 in December?
So with all this, when are we going to see the one device missing? Are we going to see it in the summer or would it be wiser to release 2 for the Christmas season? Personally I wouldn't want to have any direct competitor cannibalizing sales of the flagship, so I'd bet on the back to school season. But who knows right? Also, with all this going on, are we going to see a tablet released too (I don't want to speculate on devices, just timelines and strategy)? If so, when would be the time to do it? Would it be wise to release at the same time as the iPhone 5s? Yeah, I know the iPhone 5 was meh, but can Apple falter twice?
Last year they missed the biggest sales seasons of the year... they won't this year, so what do you guys think? Thoughts? Any "deadlines" I might have missed?