[massari81890]

Dear CrackBerry Community,


By sharing this story, I hope to start an engaging debate/discussion that will encompass numerous ideas and points of view.
Let me start by providing a reference location for the purpose of comparing similar scenarios in different locations.

Setting: Weymouth, Massachusetts (United States of America)

I drove my mom to a local BJ's Wholesale Club for some grocery shopping. While my mom shops, I spend my time at the Verizon retail booth, which is located inside this particular BJ's. We visit this store on a weekly basis, and since the launch of the BlackBerry Z10, Verizon had a working Z10 on display. As I approached the booth today, I noticed the Z10 was no longer there. I searched around, but didn't find it. However, I did find a BlackBerry Q10 on display . A non-working, demo-unit . As a BlackBerry fan, I walked away in disappointment.

When I came home, I went on CrackBerry and read an interesting post about the possibility of AT&T discontinuing the sale of the BlackBerry Z10. If you guys have a chance, please read that post as well.

Questions: What do you think of these signs? Most importantly, what do you think is the future of BlackBerry?

In my opinion, carriers and consumers aren't willing to give BlackBerry 10 a chance to make it.

Carriers are doing a poor job promoting BB 10 devices (strictly referring to carriers in the U.S.).
Consumers are making uneducated purchases, blaming BlackBerry for not having a certain application or feature that either Android or iOS has, and giving BB 10 devices a negative review, discouraging potential customers from buying them.

Please share your ideas and thoughts about anything related to BB 10 and this topic.

[Dougie011]

I don't think that people are staying away from Blackberry because they think it can't do certain things, but I DO think that blackberry needs to give the consumer a reason to switch. They are saying what it can do but haven't really shown what it can do to the average customer. If I go into a store and try to play with a phone, I expect to be able to see what it can do. If I am unable to do things easily, I will pick another company.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

It means that BlackBerry failed to launch BB10



Posted via CB10

[leejayh]

The fact is, people in the US do not really know that a new BlackBerry has arrived. Their opinions are of the legacy blackberries. For BlackBerry to succeed, they need to get that message out.

Second, along with getting the message out there needs to be a clear reason why someone would want to switch. It can not be a long list of small things. It needs to be something compelling that is easy to understand. Some part of the core value proposition must be what consumers want.

This is a tough road, as most consumers have everything that they need in a phone with apple and android. The new stuff from Apple, and the new features from the s4 are gimmicks, or marginal.

That is why all the stocks in the space are slumping. People are starting to believe that the big innovation is over, and that it is just a price game now. Growth of low cost phone is the game now.

The industry is looking for an innovation to drive replacement phones. One does not exist.

The last big innovations was apps. What's next?

Posted via CB10

[m1kr0]

Hi, I'm from South Africa. Have personally seen 3 ads for BB10 on TV thus far, but have seen literally hundreds of ads from carriers for BB 10. Now remember, South Africa is a BB stronghold. If BB aren't promoting here and leaving promotions up to the carriers, what happens in the rest of the world? Very little, I suppose?

[m1kr0]

Hi, I'm from South Africa. Have personally seen 3 ads (done directly by BB) for BB10 on TV thus far, but have seen literally hundreds of ads from carriers for BB 10. Now remember, South Africa is a BB stronghold. If BB aren't promoting here and leaving promotions up to the carriers, what happens in the rest of the world? Very little, I suppose?

[southlander]

I think the rules are the rules and BlackBerry needs to adapt or Die. Yes the carriers are not "Fair". Yes they do not push BlackBerry. Yes they do not educate consumers about BlackBerry. And yes BlackBerry will go to its grave of if thinks it can win by getting the carriers to help it somehow.

Posted via BlackBerry 10

[bcolton]

Dear CrackBerry Community,

Questions: What do you think of these signs? Most importantly, what do you think is the future of BlackBerry?

In my opinion, carriers and consumers aren't willing to give BlackBerry 10 a chance to make it.

Carriers are doing a poor job promoting BB 10 devices (strictly referring to carriers in the U.S.).
Consumers are making uneducated purchases, blaming BlackBerry for not having a certain application or feature that either Android or iOS has, and giving BB 10 devices a negative review, discouraging potential customers from buying them.

Please share your ideas and thoughts about anything related to BB 10 and this topic.

We can talk about this to ad nauseam , but carriers aren't promoting BB because they see customers aren't excited or interested. I'm annoyed at all the post that say apps don't matter, THEY DO. The market shows they do - and to those BB faithful understand "APPS MATTER". Pretending they don't is just burying your head in the sand.

It's BlackBerry's fault they have limited apps, because developers lost faith. They are easily 4 years too late, and in this industry that's practically a death sentence.

Customers want to access bank accounts, Instagram, play games, etc... The mobile phone industry is no different than any other industry where developers are critical.

What's the point in selling a phone to a customer only to have it returned because they couldn't play Candy Crush, access USAA or deposit a check via their mobile device, share photos on Instagram, access Google Maps or Google Navigation...I could go on for a long time. It's not the phone carriers or customers problem BlackBerry lots its edge. The US market favors the best, period - they are a reflection of zero loyalties and simply purchases based off the best in the market.

Sorry this is a negative post, but it reflects the future which isn't good.

[stusue]

Bullseye bcolton. U hit the nail on the head. BlackBerry is going down unless they radically change their leadership and marketing.
Too bad. I really like my z10.

Posted via CB10

[fearmantis]

Verizon and NSA partners for spying...




BB Z10 rocks.

[ubizmo]

The indifference of the carriers is an effect, not a cause, in my opinion. The cause, I suppose, is the fact that the iOS-Android duopoly was allowed to become so dominant before being challenged. The fact that WP has gotten little traction, despite the resources of Microsoft behind it, should be very sobering for BlackBerry.

The vast majority of smartphone users in the USA appear to be satisfied with iOS and Android, and the carriers have little reason to swim against that tide.

I really enjoy my Z10 but the truth is, I had to give up things that I really liked on my Samsung Galaxy Blaze when I switched back to BlackBerry. Having to give up or do without things is not something that carriers want to sell to consumers.



Posted via CB10

[locke7]

I've had bad experiences at my local verizon also. One of the employees actually told men not to get a BlackBerry when I could get an iPhone 5 for the same price...

Posted via CB10