[cgk]

I don't think any responsible IT director would take them up on that. Many have already shied away because of the company's potential future non-viability. Now that this non-viability has shifted from the land of potential to the land of the probable, it's going to take a lot more than a free Z10.

Your future is safe with now... now take these free phones that we couldn't shift...

[xandermac]

People are thinking it, so let's get it out in the open - given the massive stuffing of the channel, the lack of consumer interest in the hardware - how long before we see a firesale of hardware? Likely before Xmas?

Who would buy? You can kiss apps goodbye now that they're done with consumers (again)...

[BroncoVAL]

Firesale? It'd be about time!
When you think Z10 was 699 euro at launch here in Italy : 945$ for a full touchscreen with new OS that had to compete with iOS devices that were cheaper (not to mention Android phones so much cheaper).
I read somewhere Z10 costs 250$ to Blackberry?!? If it's true i think a 150-200 euro firesale price would really do it for a lot of curious people (so many don't know how bad is Blackberry and would still have a go with it for sub 200 euro price tag. )


Posted via CB10

[Fr3lncr]

Who would buy? You can kiss apps goodbye now that they're done with consumers (again)...

Unless the Android emulator allows us to run essentially all the consumer apps we need. I'd rather have BB10 for my core apps (email, calendar, contacts, etc) and sideload Android apps than run an Android phone... but that's just me as I don't like the core Android apps.

[xandermac]

Assuming the OS & Android emulator version get updated. Some apps require newer versions of Android to run.

Unless the Android emulator allows us to run essentially all the consumer apps we need. I'd rather have BB10 for my core apps (email, calendar, contacts, etc) and sideload Android apps than run an Android phone... but that's just me as I don't like the core Android apps.

[berklon]

Another possibility for the "fire sale": BlackBerry gives away Z10s to corporate customers if they adopt BES10.

That's almost what they did for the Canadian division of my company. They weren't requiring a BES10 purchase, but they gave away as many Z10s/Q10s as we needed - as current Canadian users on the BES were offered a free upgrade to a BB10 device.

In any case, as I said before - I hope no one is dumb enough to buy a BB10 device with a contract (regardless if it's $0) or pay more than $99 off contract. This is like the playbook, they'll have no choice but to put them at firesale prices.

In fact, BB10 devices may be harder to get rid of since when the Playbook was offered at fire sale prices - many didn't have tablets and if they wanted one they'd have to pay $300 or more for one. So the Playbook looked somewhat attractive. Many justify having a 2nd or 3rd tablet (ie. "this will be used when I work out"). It's like having a 2nd or 3rd computer. A BB10 device may not look that attractive since most don't need a 2nd phone to lug around - especially one that has no ecosystem. They can just buy a quality device for $50 or $99 with a contract and they're good to go.

[Roo Zilla]

You can gauge the final price drop of Z10 from the write down. Let's say BlackBerry had 5 million units in inventory. That puts the original valuation of that inventory at about $3 billion ($600x5,000,000). A $1 billion write down would mean about a 33% discount. If they had 3 million units in inventory, the original valuation would be $1.8 billion and a $1 billion write down would mean almost a 60% discount.