[anon(5956773)]

Just curious if switching to android actually helped sell more phones.

For the record, bb10 is the best operating system in my opinion.

Posted via CB10

[last_attempt]

Doesn't look like it. I guess no one has firm numbers but of all the phones of that and this Era I'd think the z10 sold the most.

Posted via CB10

PS. Not an exact science but you could probably judge by the amount of comments in the various forms here over time. I know new phones won't have as many comments as older ones but you could use it as a rough guage.

[co4nd]

Apparently not, I guess it would have been better to just exit the phone business when they decided to go android.

[mamalimt]

bb10 over the android any day of the week for me.

[vimagreg]

The problem is if Blackberry wanted to be important in Android world it did very, very wrong. Few models with absolutely no killer point. And now announcing it will stop making hardware. Blackberry is over, unfortunately.

Cheers,

[TGR1]

Hard to really compare Z10 sales with Priv since one was deliberately made in very large volume and eventually largely sold at very steep discounts while the other was deliberately constrained. Different strategies. At best one could say that the Android phones may have slowed the bleeding and therefore succeeded to an extent as a stopgap, although I think not as much as BBRY hoped.

[app_Developer]

Apparently not, I guess it would have been better to just exit the phone business when they decided to go android.

I don't think it would have better to just exit the business. (1) BB had purchase commitments already agreed. (2) Slashing the business a year ago would likely have caused an investor panic. (3) Their teams got useful experience with Android. (4) It may actually have worked.

(4) was sort of unlikely, but that would have been gravy on top of the first 3, IMO.

[co4nd]

I don't think it would have better to just exit the business. (1) BB had purchase commitments already agreed. (2) Slashing the business a year ago would likely have caused an investor panic. (3) Their teams got useful experience with Android. (4) It may actually have worked.

(4) was sort of unlikely, but that would have been gravy on top of the first 3, IMO.

I agree with you on every point, It was better for many business reasons to try android, but the OP's question was only about if it helped sell more phones.

[app_Developer]

I agree with you on every point, It was better for many business reasons to try android, but the OP's question was only about if it helped sell more phones.

True, Android did not help them sell more phones.

It did help them lose less money during the transition.

[spARTacus]

Apparently not, I guess it would have been better to just exit the phone business when they decided to go android.

I didn't think they exited yet.

Posted via CB App for Android on Tab4 (interim Playbook replacement)

[crackbrry fan]

NO it was a colossal FAILURE.

Posted via CB10

[Troy Tiscareno]

NO it was a colossal FAILURE.

I think you're thinking of BB10...

[cribble2k]

Hard to really compare Z10 sales with Priv since one was deliberately made in very large volume and eventually largely sold at very steep discounts while the other was deliberately constrained. Different strategies. At best one could say that the Android phones may have slowed the bleeding and therefore succeeded to an extent as a stopgap, although I think not as much as BBRY hoped.

Not to mention how many BlackBerry users who gave BlackBerry the benefit of doubt and blindly bought the Z10 on launch.

Kind of like........ Sheep

That helped Z10 sales as well.

Posted via Nexus 6p

[baspeed]

Not to mention how many BlackBerry users who gave BlackBerry the benefit of doubt and blindly bought the Z10 on launch.

Kind of like........ Sheep

That helped Z10 sales as well.

Posted via Nexus 6p

When I purchased my Z10 I laughed at the iPhone. It had no options like my z10. IPhone was an app launcher with crazy restrictions. Nutz. BlackBerry didn't advertise but one commercial at the Superbowl

Z10 was a great phone for its time but the z30 with wireless charging put it to total shame.

Posted via CrackBerry App for Android on America's 🌎 largest network.

[SunshineStateFlyer]

The thing is there is no real point in getting an Android BB. All the tools are basically available on any phone and currently the Android market is extremely tough with a lot of players fighting for the cheapest, yet best phone. Where's the place for BlackBerry in that?

I think the move to Android turned out to be a bad decision. It would have been better to stick to BB10 and to be a real niche player but offering a great end to end mobile device management.

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[Old_Mil]

The Z30 and the classic should have been the two launch devices.

They should have been followed up by a z50 and passport.

Blackberry World should never have been gutted.

Advertising dollars should have been spent on online advertising (cheap) and print (persistent) rather than doing idiotic things like one super bowl commercial and a pop up NYC store.

Posted via CB10

[KNEBB]

It could have been !!
I believe the fastest way to grow, one must first maintain what they have. If you spend as fast as you save, what have you accomplished.
And if you have lost one customer (who's willing to buy your product) for one who isn't, what have you gained. But if you maintain the Faithful, while seeking the Convert , how you treat the one, serves as an example to the other. There's an old saying : if you want to see how a man will treat his wife, watch how he treats his mother.

The problem is people (like you, like me and others) have been observing how BlackBerry has dropped their devices, dropped their support and dropped their faithful. And how quickly BlackBerry support for products sold, fade. Why would they assume Android Support will fair any differently. Why would they buy a BlackBerry over another Android Device Manufacturer ; given the history. We do, because we love BlackBerry. They don't necessarily carry that Sentiment .

It's the classic story of the Dog and his Bone.

Written on my new PPSE, because BlackBerry still works for me...

Posted via CB10

[crackbrry fan]

I think you're thinking of BB10...

No its sold collectively LESS devices than BlackBerry 10. Go check/ dream up your figures.

Posted via CB10

[mamalimt]

No way, the priv barely sold mate. BB10 at least sold quite a bit starting from the first release of the Z10. They did alright with BB10 and I personally like it a lot myself. this is coming from Android user that's been on Samsung devices for a long time. I am currently typing this on a Note5 but I still prefer my Q10 over any of my phones any day of the week. bb10 devices over android BB any day for me. I prefer having bb10 because to me it's fast and very smooth. much better than all other mobile platforms.

[crackbrry fan]

No way, the priv barely sold mate. BB10 at least sold quite a bit starting from the first release of the Z10. They did alright with BB10 and I personally like it a lot myself. this is coming from Android user that's been on Samsung devices for a long time. I am currently typing this on a Note5 but I still prefer my Q10 over any of my phones any day of the week. bb10 devices over android BB any day for me. I prefer having bb10 because to me it's fast and very smooth. much better than all other mobile platforms.

Correct and it still outsold their Android offerings long after BlackBerry stopped pushing the BlackBerry 10 devices with the exception of the Passport.

Posted via CB10

[eshropshire]

Who cares. The option was not Android or BB10 for BlackBerry. Going Android was a last chance for success. BB10 was over. Qualcomm was not going to write drivers for BB10. BlackBerry was done investing in BB10. By the time the Priv was being developed most of the BB10 was already gone.

BlackBerry Android only required a small dev team. BB10 required a massive team of developers and testers. Plus a large developer support organization. For a company with an ASP under $300, these costs were way to high. I am also certain that most Wireless companies also told BlackBerry they were done supporting an BB10.

[Troy Tiscareno]

No its sold collectively LESS devices than BlackBerry 10. Go check/ dream up your figures.

Of course it did - but it lost BB only a tiny fraction of what they lost on BB10.

[Troy Tiscareno]

I think the move to Android turned out to be a bad decision. It would have been better to stick to BB10 and to be a real niche player but offering a great end to end mobile device management.

That was never the choice. BB10 was creating huge losses for BB, and as sales volumes dropped, the losses became worse. Per Chen's own words, they needed to sell 10M BB10 phones a year in order to break even, and they were selling half that and declining, and continuing to lose a lot of money per phone. So, the choice wasn't Android vs. BB10, it was Android vs. exiting the smartphone business entirely. Chen gave Android a shot - likely knowing it wouldn't work - because if he didn't, he'd be criticized for not trying everything before shutting down hardware.

[JeepBB]

That was never the choice. BB10 was creating huge losses for BB, and as sales volumes dropped, the losses became worse. Per Chen's own words, they needed to sell 10M BB10 phones a year in order to break even, and they were selling half that and declining, and continuing to lose a lot of money per phone. So, the choice wasn't Android vs. BB10, it was Android vs. exiting the smartphone business entirely. Chen gave Android a shot - likely knowing it wouldn't work - because if he didn't, he'd be criticized for not trying everything before shutting down hardware.

The story I've heard a few times is that Louks persuaded a sceptical Chen that a "secure" Android device was worth a shot, and the Priv (previously intended as a BB10 slider) was born.

So, if true, I guess you could argue that moving to Android probably gave the Hardware division an extra year of life... not that anyone here is likely to thank Chen for that mercy.

[mamalimt]

Agreed. Thanks for the adding to my post CrackBerry fan.