MARCH? Is Blackberry For Real?

As a shareholder, my initial reaction to the March release date in the US of A was...Why didn’t I sell at $18. But after a solid nap, a full day of

looking at the phone instead of paying attention in class, I am 100% behind it. Blackberry and the carriers can say everything they want about the testing being the reason for the delay, but I beg to differ, in my mind, it’s a strategy to regain the market share in the US… Just not with the Z10.

For a few reasons, the March date release for the US makes a lot of sense.

1) Give how low the percentage of Blackberry fans there are in the States, one could assume that no matter how good the device is, people wouldn't flock to it, it’s a Blackberry, so it’s not cool;

2) Launching with 70,000 apps is actually really good, but if they don't have an app like Netflix available when the launch in the US is going to be detrimental, especially since that’s the only country Netflix has a decent selection of movies anyway;

3) No matter how much it's tested, a new gadget will always have bugs that need to be worked out. If they released right away, in a market that has a negative image of the brand, it can only lead to problems.

If you look at the launch dates with the location in mind, you would see that they are being released earlier in places that Blackberry still has strong presence in. Canada may be an exception,

but I think they still have a decent chunk of users in Canada, and given that it's a Canadian company, it wouldn't make sense for Blackberry to not launch in Canada quickly.

But by holding back until March to release the Z10 in the States, Blackberry is ensuring:

1) The Z10 to be a major player in the rest of the world. It will be THE Blackberry phone everyone is talking about. A lot of talk about Blackberry phones of late has been of issues people have had, creating a negative image of the brand. By releasing it almost everywhere outside of the US, they can let the user experience speak for itself through the voices of actual users around the world, thus creating a positive buzz for when it is time to release the phone in what could be considered the biggest battle ground for Blackberry;

2) That the needed apps are there. Alec Saunders stated that he expects 100,000 apps to be in Blackberry World by the launch of the Z10 in March. Chances are, that the major development teams who aren’t onboard, or don’t have their application ready at this time, will be a part of Blackberry World by that time, after seeing the results in the rest of the world;

3) By waiting until later to launch the phone in the US, Blackberry can ensure that they have worked out any bug that might be a cause for concern.
As someone who lives in Canada, where Blackberry still holds some ground, it is my opinion that the Z10 is being sold in two markets. The USA market, and the rest of the world market. While the rest of the world is obviously the bigger market, it is also the market that Blackberry has been able to survive on. The USA on the other hand, well, lets be honest, there quite frankly isn’t much love for the brand there anyways.

In essence, I think the Z10 is Blackberry’s way of upgrading its status in the rest of the world market from a brand that is popular because of its cheap handsets which offer solid services, to

a brand that is modern, affordable, reliable, and sexy.

What Blackberry is trying to achieve in the American market with the Z10 (and I think a lot of people will disagree with me here) is to rebuild its image, its foundation if you will, not necessarily

to win back all of the market share it has lost to iOS and Android over the years.

While they are always looking to gain market share in every part of the world, including the US, the main point of the Z10 is to rebuild the image

of the Blackberry. Blackberry doesn’t need to sell 10 million units in the US to fulfill their comeback story. They just need to be the brand that is seen as uncontested in the third position, and be a brand that people who choose iOS and Android can look at, and say “Yes it’s nice, but it’s not for me”, rather than “It’s a dated company, their phones are lame, and the company is going to die in 2013”.
If Blackberry can position itself in such a way that causes the negative perception to be reversed, then when they branch out and start licensing QNX to other companies who can make, for example, a refrigerator that sends messages to your phone telling you what you are low on while you are at the grocery store. They will then be able to sell phones on a large scale in the US market.

So the strategic decision to wait until March to bring the Z10 to the US makes sense. By that time, they will have time to get more major

applications, more movies, more songs, while at the same time, fixing bugs, letting the buzz about Blackberry 10 gain traction, and thus rebuilding the brand image.

Notice how to complaints aren’t why Blackberry 10 doesn’t have Netflix yet, or why Instagram isn’t available yet, it’s why can’t I have this phone now,

like the rest of the world. Blackberry is positioning itself for a new brand image in the US, and by letting the rest of the world get their hands on the Z10 first and letting the end users from the other market tell the world what their experience has been, they are letting Americans know, that the phone is for real, that Blackberry 10 is for real, and that Blackberry as a brand is real.

I give up on trying to make it look pretty by indenting properly.

Originally Posted by Peevish

[What Blackberry is trying to achieve in the American market with the Z10 (and I think a lot of people will disagree with me here) is to rebuild its image, its foundation if you will, not necessarily to win back all of the market share it has lost to iOS and Android over the years.

No disagreement here. Blackberry's only viable move with the crucial US market is a total attempt at re-branding. They've already restructured and refocused their leadership and development efforts, they now just need to refocus their marketing efforts towards consumers instead of enterprise customers (the enterprise guys will know about it regardless), and ultimately try to earn some real brand-name equity.

wow this isnt the 598539704507540973247032443 thread on this!!!!!!!

AcuraILX OP makes a good point and there is a very important strategy here. As of right now, with what BlackBerry launched, lot of Americans are not going to get BB10. They will wait for reviews and are more skeptical of the device. So what BlackBerry did is Launch in the markets where it will have the most sales early on. UK will have the most followed by Canada and then by UAE, this is all based on their current market share breakdown for developed markets. So they will do well in February and tout they have already sold X amount of devices in 3 regions only. This will be announced in press release and the share price will reflect this and all.

Now, come March the other places around the world will be like hold on whats going on here, these countries have it and they love it. It builds hype and excitement and I study the mythology of branding and culture, and this holding out for some regions creates an almost jealousy to have the device even if they don't want it. Think of two children who get to choose between a red, blue, and green lollipop. So child 1 picks red for example because he likes red and child 2 picks blue, both kids are happy. Child 1 doesn't want blue because he prefers red, now say the teacher puts a black(berry ;)) ball in the playpen and says only child 2 can have it. Child 1 automatically even though he likes red will want black just because someone told him he can't have it.

I understand this makes sense with children but children don't buy smartphones. But this innate human characteristic of wanting what we can't have is ingrained into our DNA. I am not saying this is the full strategy BlackBerry is doing with this launch segmentation, but there is an aspect of it in it.

All I am trying to do is shed light on a marketing theory that the OP is referring to, whether it will work or whether its a stronger theory than others out there I can't say. Hopefully it does work!!!

Well OP had the most positive spin I've ever heard on this one.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9930

If I may, I'd like to add an item to your list of things that BlackBerry is ensuring.

But by holding back until March to release the Z10 in the States, Blackberry is ensuring:

4. That the Z10 launches in North America at about the same time as the Samsung Galaxy S4. A device that will retail for basically the same price - give or take 50 bucks, but will offer industry leading hardware and all of the third party applications a user could hope for. The Galaxy S4 will be the successor to the Galaxy S3, a device that sold over 45 million units and broke records to become the fastest selling phone ever made. It is crucial that BlackBerry ensures that the Z10 is right there with that S4.

Its gonna be ugly.

I was expecting something completely different before I opened this thread, I was pleasantly surprised. Thanks OP.

Originally Posted by Peevish

I give up on trying to make it look pretty by indenting properly.

I think what people should give up on is trying to rationalize why a company who is multi-years late to the market, that has delayed the device for an unreasonable amount of time, is delaying the device to the one marketplace they need to recapture the most.

No matter what way you spin it that is bad. Real bad. They also need to release both Q and Z at same time. Why delay Q? There is no benefit in doing so. The two devices don't compete against each other.

Strike while the iron is hot. By the time Blackberry strikes the iron will have disintegrated from rust!

Wow, good read. Thanks OP.

Originally Posted by flash24

Wow, good read. Thanks OP.

Me2

To add to this line of thinking... perhaps they have not produced enough Z10's to satisfy demand... but will by March... so they release in UK first and Canada second to ensure enough devices available for a US launch. Just look at the backlog for the Nexus 4.

wait a min, didnt he say the delay in the US was due to carrier testing and that "they are doing the best they can" (the carriers) ?? thats what i heard!

I think the OP is dead on! They want to maintain the world, get things a little more ironed out with essentially a massive beta test with the rest of the world hehe, then they bring it to the very high maintenance U S OF A! No disrespect, just what I've read from tech sites/blogs/people and slowly they chip away with an incredibly solid product. I mean a rebuild of the brand is going to take time, and I keep wondering how the **** they're going to do it!

i like the look the op is putting on this one but im over it ..im watching an unlocked z10 on ebay right now and surprisingly its not in the 1k+ range lol ...long live blackberry

your blaming the wrong people the title should state

MARCH? Are US Carriers For Real?
the fact that every US carrier said they will have it AT THE SAME TIME makes me think that it does have something to do with the carriers..

and what's so bad about ironing out the product before launching to the US? if it's not near perfect the US customers are gonna be the ones ripping Blackberry a new one! yah u guys have to wait, but u'll have a polished product..

companies have to have scenarios and have risk based assessment and u need to choose which scenario will have the LEAST amount of RISK .. maybe this was the scenario ... who knows

u don't think Blackberry wanted their product out in the USA ASAP!? unless ur behind the scenes and know something we don't u can't point a finger at anyone! u have the right to be upset and give your opinion.. but u can't directly blame BlackBerry cause u don't know all the info and why the US isn't getting it till March.

but u do have good points

Point 1 should be:
The Z10 needs to be put in stores where markets are immature (India ... and the like)

Originally Posted by Peevish

As a shareholder, my initial reaction to the March release date in the US of A was...Why didn’t I sell at $18. But after a solid nap, a full day of

looking at the phone instead of paying attention in class, I am 100% behind it. Blackberry and the carriers can say everything they want about the testing being the reason for the delay, but I beg to differ, in my mind, it’s a strategy to regain the market share in the US… Just not with the Z10.

For a few reasons, the March date release for the US makes a lot of sense.

1) Give how low the percentage of Blackberry fans there are in the States, one could assume that no matter how good the device is, people wouldn't flock to it, it’s a Blackberry, so it’s not cool;

2) Launching with 70,000 apps is actually really good, but if they don't have an app like Netflix available when the launch in the US is going to be detrimental, especially since that’s the only country Netflix has a decent selection of movies anyway;

3) No matter how much it's tested, a new gadget will always have bugs that need to be worked out. If they released right away, in a market that has a negative image of the brand, it can only lead to problems.

If you look at the launch dates with the location in mind, you would see that they are being released earlier in places that Blackberry still has strong presence in. Canada may be an exception,

but I think they still have a decent chunk of users in Canada, and given that it's a Canadian company, it wouldn't make sense for Blackberry to not launch in Canada quickly.

But by holding back until March to release the Z10 in the States, Blackberry is ensuring:

1) The Z10 to be a major player in the rest of the world. It will be THE Blackberry phone everyone is talking about. A lot of talk about Blackberry phones of late has been of issues people have had, creating a negative image of the brand. By releasing it almost everywhere outside of the US, they can let the user experience speak for itself through the voices of actual users around the world, thus creating a positive buzz for when it is time to release the phone in what could be considered the biggest battle ground for Blackberry;

2) That the needed apps are there. Alec Saunders stated that he expects 100,000 apps to be in Blackberry World by the launch of the Z10 in March. Chances are, that the major development teams who aren’t onboard, or don’t have their application ready at this time, will be a part of Blackberry World by that time, after seeing the results in the rest of the world;

3) By waiting until later to launch the phone in the US, Blackberry can ensure that they have worked out any bug that might be a cause for concern.
As someone who lives in Canada, where Blackberry still holds some ground, it is my opinion that the Z10 is being sold in two markets. The USA market, and the rest of the world market. While the rest of the world is obviously the bigger market, it is also the market that Blackberry has been able to survive on. The USA on the other hand, well, lets be honest, there quite frankly isn’t much love for the brand there anyways.

In essence, I think the Z10 is Blackberry’s way of upgrading its status in the rest of the world market from a brand that is popular because of its cheap handsets which offer solid services, to

a brand that is modern, affordable, reliable, and sexy.

What Blackberry is trying to achieve in the American market with the Z10 (and I think a lot of people will disagree with me here) is to rebuild its image, its foundation if you will, not necessarily

to win back all of the market share it has lost to iOS and Android over the years.

While they are always looking to gain market share in every part of the world, including the US, the main point of the Z10 is to rebuild the image

of the Blackberry. Blackberry doesn’t need to sell 10 million units in the US to fulfill their comeback story. They just need to be the brand that is seen as uncontested in the third position, and be a brand that people who choose iOS and Android can look at, and say “Yes it’s nice, but it’s not for me”, rather than “It’s a dated company, their phones are lame, and the company is going to die in 2013”.
If Blackberry can position itself in such a way that causes the negative perception to be reversed, then when they branch out and start licensing QNX to other companies who can make, for example, a refrigerator that sends messages to your phone telling you what you are low on while you are at the grocery store. They will then be able to sell phones on a large scale in the US market.

So the strategic decision to wait until March to bring the Z10 to the US makes sense. By that time, they will have time to get more major

applications, more movies, more songs, while at the same time, fixing bugs, letting the buzz about Blackberry 10 gain traction, and thus rebuilding the brand image.

Notice how to complaints aren’t why Blackberry 10 doesn’t have Netflix yet, or why Instagram isn’t available yet, it’s why can’t I have this phone now,

like the rest of the world. Blackberry is positioning itself for a new brand image in the US, and by letting the rest of the world get their hands on the Z10 first and letting the end users from the other market tell the world what their experience has been, they are letting Americans know, that the phone is for real, that Blackberry 10 is for real, and that Blackberry as a brand is real.

Please show me ANYWHERE where RIM announced anything but a 1st quarter "release" in the US. Speculation is the cause for the "delayed" outrage, not any announcements by RIM.

I think OP is pretty spot on. Its a multi-national corporation and they are dong what they should do in order to get the best sales possible.

I mean Hollywood even started to do this last year with some US produced movies opening in other markets, just to get some good box-office numbers to get the public interested in seeing their movies

Originally Posted by Caymancroc

I think what people should give up on is trying to rationalize why a company who is multi-years late to the market, that has delayed the device for an unreasonable amount of time, is delaying the device to the one marketplace they need to recapture the most.

No matter what way you spin it that is bad. Real bad. They also need to release both Q and Z at same time. Why delay Q? There is no benefit in doing so. The two devices don't compete against each other.

Strike while the iron is hot. By the time Blackberry strikes the iron will have disintegrated from rust!

actually the OP may be on to something. Why?? Per my corporate AT&T rep, they will be part of Blackbery event called Blackberry Experience Forum . Which will be held during Feb and March. If a major carrier will be a part of such event, they must know something we don't. But hey, im just speculating along with the OP.