Q4 16: BB recongnized revenue on 600 K units // ASP 315

Originally Posted by koool1

You are dreaming. If it was a BB10 device it would not be on 3 major carriers in the US.

Posted via BlackBerry PRIV

Nexus does not go the carrier route and seems to be perceived ok. There was a 140 percent increase in consumers buying carrier free unlocked phones in 2015. That will surely increase in '16 with price pressure trending down. (Notice all the carriers "buy one get one free" BS for the S7 and iPhone?) the PRIV and any future BlackBerry should be usable across all carriers and "priced to sell" and of course sold unlocked. The freedom from a carrier and immediate OS updates has served Nexus well.

The newest member....Cobalt Classic

Originally Posted by bh7171

Nexus does not go the carrier route and seems to be perceived ok. There was a 140 percent increase in consumers buying carrier free unlocked phones in 2015. That will surely increase in '16 with price pressure trending down. (Notice all the carriers "buy one get one free" BS for the S7 and iPhone?) the PRIV and any future BlackBerry should be usable across all carriers and "priced to sell" and of course sold unlocked. The freedom from a carrier and immediate OS updates has served Nexus well.

The newest member....Cobalt Classic

Nexus is a special case. It's not meant to sell in volume and is meant to be something of a showcase. So pricing and sales strategies will be a little different.

Carrier support, certainly in North America, has a tremendous influence on sales. Even the majority of Apple's phones are sold through carriers. And let's not forget the impact on RIM when Verizon dropped them from favored smartphone status in favor of Droid. Even with the changes in the carrier scene the various fiefdoms and rules the carriers have in place has ensured they haven't weakened that much.

Originally Posted by Dunt Dunt Dunt

Really wonder how much stock they have left.... and how long the BB10 devices have been out of production.

Well, the last BB10 device produced would have been around July-August 2015 - the Passport SE. With the numbers BB phones have been selling, they haven't had anything in "continuous production" in many years. They just make a batch based on their sales estimates and, in most cases, once that batch has been completed, that phone is "out of production." That doesn't mean they won't have stock in their warehouses for while, but "in production" means new phones are coming off an assembly line, and so that goes back to the PPSE around August of 2015. The last all-new phone was the Leap 5 or 6 months before that.

A vision without a plan is just a hallucination..

Originally Posted by nismorg

Chen made it pretty clear last year when he said that 10.3.3 would be an update in March and than BB10 would go into maintenance release.
10.3.4 or 10.4 or whatever is a new twist this morning.

No it isn't.

Originally Posted by DrBoomBotz

No it isn't.

From day one he mentioned both 10.3.3 and 10.3.4.... only thing new is pushing back the time frames.

Blackberry needed to have launched 3/4 phones alongside the PRIV slider. He hinted at a mid range device but a low end device is needed.

PRV-T - Same as the Priv but Touch only, one without the slider, 32/64GB- $549-599
PRV-M - 5/5.5 inch fully touch, same size as the Z30, better front facing camera , 32/64GB - low price $399-$449 or a phone the same size
Priv-L - 4.5/5-inch fully touch, same size as the Z10/Z30, better front facing camera , 16/32GB - low price $250-299

Rationale

1. Look at Apple the iPhone SE is for $399 $499. The difference? Disk Space? Apple has gone Cheap, Down market... as it seems the sales challenges outside of North America
2. Blackberry is forgetting the number of users, especially in Africa(Nigeria etc), Asia(Indonesia etc, Latin America(Mexico), Caribbean(Jamaica etc) who bought the lower end 8520,8530. Get the distribution right,
3. It's a numbers game (and profitability). No numbers, no sightings means the brand is dead
4. The move to Android was late. However if you are going to move to Android cover all your bases - choices for the masses

I was interested in purchasing the PRIV but not at that price point. As Chen should realise BB Facebook users don't really care about privacy they just want a solid device, which by the way has been part of Blackberry's problem. The phones last long.

good to know... i was wondering how someone could call an update a copycat... we are all weird, but that was at a whole new level of weirdness hahaha... all good, have a nice day!

Originally Posted by silversmith75

That was a miss quote. And twisted abit. To sound dumb.

#luvmybb10os

As I've said before, BlackBerry will most likely release another device this year. It would be dumb to quit after the obvious failure of the Priv. If that doesn't work then it's time BlackBerry leaves hardware for good.

Posted via CB10

Guys, one question.
What about the PRIV? Estimated number of sales?Revenue from the PRIV? Nothing disclosed. So does that mean PRIV is another fail by BlackBerry?

Posted via CB10

Originally Posted by roleli

Blackberry needed to have launched 3/4 phones alongside the PRIV slider. He hinted at a mid range device but a low end device is needed.

PRV-T - Same as the Priv but Touch only, one without the slider, 32/64GB- $549-599
PRV-M - 5/5.5 inch fully touch, same size as the Z30, better front facing camera , 32/64GB - low price $399-$449 or a phone the same size
Priv-L - 4.5/5-inch fully touch, same size as the Z10/Z30, better front facing camera , 16/32GB - low price $250-299

Rationale

1. 1. Look at Apple the iPhone SE is for $399 $499. The difference? Disk Space? Apple has gone Cheap, Down market... as it seems the sales challenges outside of North America
2. 2. Blackberry is forgetting the number of users, especially in Africa(Nigeria etc), Asia(Indonesia etc, Latin America(Mexico), Caribbean(Jamaica etc) who bought the lower end 8520,8530. Get the distribution right,
3. 3. It's a numbers game (and profitability). No numbers, no sightings means the brand is dead
4. 4. The move to Android was late. However if you are going to move to Android cover all your bases - choices for the masses

I was interested in purchasing the PRIV but not at that price point. As Chen should realise BB Facebook users don't really care about privacy they just want a solid device, which by the way has been part of Blackberry's problem. The phones last long.

Better late than never...

Posted via CB10

I think everyone is missing the point. Once again BlackBerry talks in riddles. The truth is the phone division is dead, and BlackBerry killed it. I have people all the time amazed by my passport. They love the size and weight, yet as always the next statement is BlackBerry is still in business? The only fault of that is BlackBerrys and BlackBerrys alone. No advertising, no commercials.......nothing. Yet they think they are going to sell phones.....yea when pigs fly.

WOOF!

Woman and children and the few BlackBerry users to the lifeboats!

Originally Posted by sorinv

The security updates come from Google. BlackBerry just passes them on. Cut and paste = copy

Most observers would perceive the original object as relocated.

Posted via CB10

Originally Posted by sentimentGX4

The problem, in my opinion, was the high markup of the PRIV, especially compared to competitors, and the inferior build quality of Blackberry phones.

BlackBerry build quality is generally very good. A quick Internet search will reveal the almost unbelievable frequency with which SamSung users break their screens.

This being said - I do find it puzzling in retrospect that BB didn't aim for a lower ASP and more device penetration. I guess they have a huge graph somewhere of cost to devices sold ratio and at what point it really matters for them...but for Chen to even admit it is strange. Did he not know that $700+ was going to end up as the retail price?

The other oddity is, in launching Priv, was it really just to test the waters? Because some kind of ad campaign would've made sense...they must have a cost/benefit analysis of this. But without the advertising push, what could have been hoped for considering the high price?

Posted via CB10

Originally Posted by khlover520

As I've said before, BlackBerry will most likely release another device this year. It would be dumb to quit after the obvious failure of the Priv. If that doesn't work then it's time BlackBerry leaves hardware for good.

Posted via CB10

But they ARE dumb. They needed to go "all in" with Android or folded their tent.

This being said - I do find it puzzling in retrospect that BB didn't aim for a lower ASP and more device penetration. I guess they have a huge graph somewhere of cost to devices sold ratio and at what point it really matters for them...but for Chen to even admit it is strange. Did he not know that $700+ was going to end up as the retail price?

I said this in October 2015
RIP Blackberry. At that price its all over. The blackberry hardware division is toast. Means it will be marketed to only high end users in USA, CAN, UK, and maybe in the Middle East. Great Company ruined by lack of decisive actions in the 2000s, late and unfinished product in 2013 and bad marketing(including pricing) in during 2013-2015

They did not give themselves a fighting chance. A damaged brand can't demand high prices.

Originally Posted by BeautyEh

This being said - I do find it puzzling in retrospect that BB didn't aim for a lower ASP and more device penetration. I guess they have a huge graph somewhere of cost to devices sold ratio and at what point it really matters for them...but for Chen to even admit it is strange. Did he not know that $700+ was going to end up as the retail price?

The other oddity is, in launching Priv, was it really just to test the waters? Because some kind of ad campaign would've made sense...they must have a cost/benefit analysis of this. But without the advertising push, what could have been hoped for considering the high price?

My take is that Chen accepted that he wasn't going to sell a high number of devices no matter what - they couldn't begin to spend the kind of marketing and advertising dollars it would take to get most people interested (remember, there is YEARS of brand image damage that would need to be un-done), so instead he elected to sell a small number of phones at a high price and make much-needed profits.

Most people don't really understand how limited your options are when you are selling so few devices - there's just not much money left to fix other problems, like distribution, marketing, etc.

Originally Posted by Q10Bold

BlackBerry Apps downloads at Google Play Store = Priv sales.
A sad day for android priv fans.

Is that really a good measure? I would think many people just use the pre-installed apps and don't update.

I would love an update BB10 phone, but that's just not going to happen. I would settle for a cheaper Android by BlackBerry device.



Posted via CB10

Strong statement

Originally Posted by Troy Tiscareno

My take is that Chen accepted that he wasn't going to sell a high number of devices no matter what

Fair point. They could have very calculatedly tested the water with smaller volumes of lower priced models(using an iPhone strategy, same phone different storage, different price). I strongly believe that at a better price points with 2/3 Android devices they would have stood a better chance.

I for one would not be buying the PRIV at the $699 price.

If you accept your were not going sell why bother? Just make a call. If you don't believe don't bother

Let's not write off the Priv just yet. Marshmallow should help Priv gain some traction. In fact given they have nothing to lose why not just sell it at cost for a few months (at least until Marshmallow is released) and see if they can win some market share back? Once marshmallow is ready for roll-out, reduce the regular price to somewhere between a flagship and mid-range device and brand it as a new device version (Priv M?)

Posted via CB10

Releasing an Android device might have seemed like a good idea at the time but clearly it was a mistake. I'd say at least half of BlackBerry's loyal customers were alienated by it and have no interest in Android (such as myself). Sure they gained some new customers but not enough to make up for the loss.

A smartphone with a physical keyboard is a niche product these days. There is a market for it but not enough to sustain BlackBerry alone.

Really think releasing a BB10 version of the Priv through shopblackberry/Amazon or autoloaders would have been the only move to actually gain users with the Priv. And yes I know the arguments about the price of drivers. I don't really care.

Should have been a BB10 device that androidcrap Priv!!!!


Posted via CB10

Originally Posted by Q10Bold

BlackBerry Apps downloads at Google Play Store = Priv sales.
A sad day for android priv fans.

We BB10 die hards hopes for a new BB10 device.

Posted via Q10Bold

Umm...not really. People who brought the Priv will adjust if BB stop making hardware and move on. They have proved already that they are willing to transition. You stated "Android Priv fans" More Android options for those fans to choose from if BB stops making hardware... BB10 diehards may struggle more if BB leaves the hardware business.

Originally Posted by cbosdell

Releasing an Android device might have seemed like a good idea at the time but clearly it was a mistake. I'd say at least half of BlackBerry's loyal customers were alienated by it and have no interest in Android (such as myself). Sure they gained some new customers but not enough to make up for the loss.

A smartphone with a physical keyboard is a niche product these days. There is a market for it but not enough to sustain BlackBerry alone.

Really think releasing a BB10 version of the Priv through shopblackberry/Amazon or autoloaders would have been the only move to actually gain users with the Priv. And yes I know the arguments about the price of drivers. I don't really care.

There is no sales growth with a BB10 PRIV. This is just the same folks who bought multiple versions of the Passport. BlackBerry needed to do more than test the waters with Android. Consumers can sense the lack of commitment.

Originally Posted by Troy Tiscareno

My take is that Chen accepted that he wasn't going to sell a high number of devices no matter what - they couldn't begin to spend the kind of marketing and advertising dollars it would take to get most people interested (remember, there is YEARS of brand image damage that would need to be un-done), so instead he elected to sell a small number of phones at a high price and make much-needed profits.

Most people don't really understand how limited your options are when you are selling so few devices - there's just not much money left to fix other problems, like distribution, marketing, etc.

Very true words... What does Samsung spend on marketing/advertising?? 1 Billion? BB does not have the resources to spend on marketing...especially when John Chen is using resources on the Software side.