[MultiPlatt]

I looked online and at regular price the Q10 and Z10 cost less than the S4 and the I5 by at least $50.00. I think blackberry has there prices set fine. The technology that is going into phones these days is not cheap so you have to price the phone accordingly. It will be good to see what the Q5 sells for in the US as that is supposed to be in the cure family and those tended to be a little cheaper in price they there other models.

[PHILIP KAITE]

Pricing in countries like India were ridiculous,
Posted via CB10

[jay64]

cut prices already happening for carriers! non carriers is supply and demand. ebay prices for qnx models are ridiculous but that will change as they sit on them. Many are listed "used for one week-two weeks" so those folks seemingly tried and did not take to new phones ? lower prices may increase sales but will be offset by lower profits per unit and that will hit revenue. perhaps less developed countries sales will counter this to some extent. Fanboys have already bought so new user penetration needed and/or conversion of legacy users. high end smartphone sales showing signs of user saturation for any model, so there is not a lot of give left to expand. quite a quandary for BB but others as well.

[Craigash]

It cost a round 150 to make a BB10 phone, They then sell the device to the Network Service Provider around the World. The Network Service Provider then put the final price tag on the Device, which is then sold in there stores to the public.

So it's the Network Service Provider Who determine what the end price is. Not BlackBerry.

Posted via CB10

[raino]

It cost a round 150 to make a BB10 phone, They then sell the device to the Network Service Provider around the World. The Network Service Provider then put the final price tag on the Device, which is then sold in there stores to the public.

So it's the Network Service Provider Who determine what the end price is. Not BlackBerry.

This is partly true. But you have keep in mind that carriers have their margins too, just like BB. And BB doesn't sell the phone to the carriers for 150.

[Superbuddy2007]

I agree. BlackBerry needs to look at how companies like Honda and Hyundai became what they are today. When Honda entered the American market, Japanese import vehicles had much the same reputation as BlackBerry phones do now. So Honda flooded the market with cheap, utilitarian vehicles that were overall quite reliable. Get the brand into as many hands as possible, then slowly add features to change brand sentiment. Once that positive sentiment is banked, then increase prices and add premium features.

More recently, look at how far Hyundai has come using a similar model. Remember the Elantra from the 90s? Dirt cheap, and because of that, you saw quite a few of them even though no one you knew would ever consider it a good brand. Look at them now - a friend of mine just replaced his BMW with a 2013 Elantra and loves it.

BlackBerry has fallen so far out of the US market that they are basically a brand new player - with the added hurdle that their product has largely been dismissed by the population. Flood the market with cheap yet reliable devices and get the brand back into households.

EDIT: Here's an idea - since phones are largely subsidised now that you can't go much lower-priced than $0 for 2-3 years, partner with some carriers to offer yearly upgrades to the customer on that contract. So the customer is signed on for three years, and gets three subsidised phones during that contract. Make it a cheap, almost disposable phone - Curve-level, small screen, no HDMI or LTE - focus entirely on processing and RAM to allow BB10 to run smoothly. Make it the Nokia 5110 of the smartphone world.

I could NOT have said this any better. A colleague and I wonder why they aren't implementing this type of strategy. You can't charge consumers with an unreasonable price when your brand is already non existent and irrelevant to the masses. Rebuilding the brand shouldn't be near the conversation of charging premium prices at all.

[Superbuddy2007]

I personally don't think its too high. Considering a S4 somehow still lags with quadcores....

To the average consumer, they know Samsung is what the majority uses besides iOS and won't care whether it does or not. Heck, the average consumer won't even know that the phone has a quadcore processor in it. They will consider it a bad device before they go out to find that the hardware and software aren't optimized to work together.

[Dave Bourque]

.Heck, the average consumer won't even know that the phone has a quadcore processor in it.

Well that's the marketing teams job to prove their point.

Sent from my BB10 smartphone.

[M65c02]

Does anyone know why anyone, or at least so many, are bothering to answer this thread?? (Trying not to be rude here...) Maybe I'm missing something: This "threader" is from a place far, far away, works for BB (or the competition), or while labeling BB10 phones refers only to a newest BB10 phone release (that I'm not aware) or is intended to be a question rather than an exclamation. The Thread Subject is simply misleading and would appear to show\ a lack of knowledge of the marketplace (at least in N.A.). I can only go with the plain English of the Subject. [Note: Now to be clear, if this thread was started in March and, to be sure, a couple then did follow this line of thought, I might say the writer was both daring and possibly a financial genius. At the time, I also thought the phones were priced too high...but only after I found that the Z was unable to perform out-of-the-box and left me partially crippled in my business function(s).]

I am confounded as there have been more than a few threads beginning in May on the extremely low pricing of the Z phones (and what that likely means for BB and the future of the Z). Various vendors began to offer BB10 phones--at least the Z10--first for $99, then $49 in May, and NIL in mid June. These were quite the drops in pricing from the typical N.A. intro price of a down payment of $200-250 incl/tax. Now all these price reductions (all bundled w/2 yr carrier contracts) were seen mostly within the first quarter of (N.A.) intro, frankly, didn't bode well for the Z--and as borne out in the late June qrtrly financials. Further, that these reductions occurred before I (and man) could even get my Z to perform to standards of my legacy BB's was a slap in my face. (To be fair, the Official 10.1 did solve quite a few problems and was released just prior to my first spotting a "NIL" purchase w/contract pricing. LOL) ..... But we pretty much kicked the pricing horse from every angle in those earlier threads, leaving it at prices are so low because it was a last ditch effort to get market share by a phone that didn't fly very high with its intro or, if one can distinguish, an inventory dump--or some combination. [Code= Sales were weaker than expected]

THEN YES, there are carriers still offering the Z's at original intro $ but many (N.A.) outlets can be cajoled into deals for $50 less than typically cited competition and, indeed, a few that offer for a flat $50 or even NIL (as noted in other threads). I expect that the Q pricing will follow in lock-step a reduction shortly after Labor Day. And therefore NO, the pricing has dropped to where it is not ridiculously high and, indeed, most would agree that it is now somewhat ridiculously low (at least for the phone it is supposed to represent).

THEN AGAIN, as I've seen on a couple occasions in other threads, maybe the intent of this thread was sarcasm and to stimulate conversation....in which case, as measured by the number of posts made in only a few hours, one might regard this thread as a success !?!

[Roo Zilla]

I disagree. People do buy phones because of the OS. It is one of the most important factor (even if subliminal). A person who knows nothing about phones or who is the leading manufacturers would choose the phone that has what they want for the price they want. Even if Android or BlackBerry devices are cheaper, iOS is more intuitive. That's why everyone and their grandma has iPhone. Not everyone buys it to be part of the "in" crowd.

Another way of looking at it is what the consumer uses is the OS. If you could install BB10 on a GS4, to the user it would just be a BB10 device. Actual utilization of the device would be the same. Specs would be different but how would that actually affect the use? Not much I would say.

The only real difference between smartphones is the OS. You could do all the benchmark tests, photo comparisons, etc to determine quantify which phone is the best, but after all that boasting is done, people will leverage towards the OS that they are more comfortable with as their daily driver.

People don't buy smartphones for the OS, they buy them for the brand. How else to explain Samsung's success? Don't say marketing, marketing can't explain the success of Xiaomi. If people truly chose phones by OS, then there really wouldn't be much to distinguish a Samsung from an LG from an HTC and one would expect all to sell evenly. We all know that's not the case. There was a time when Blackberry had such brand recognition and desirability, but they blew it.

[Pilchard]

Does anyone know why anyone, or at least so many, are bothering to answer this thread?? (Trying not to be rude here...) !

Is it tortologous to reply to a thread by saying you don't know why anyone is bothering to answer? Or is it Oxymoronic?

There are lots of threads that make one wonder why people reply, but then we all pile in with our 2 cents. There are lots of subjects being flogged to death over and over and over again. Why are the A10's specs so low, why high specs don't matter, why the Playbook not getting OS10 is a major letdown, when is 10.2 coming out, when is such and such an app coming out, etc.

I don't think I have a point, but then this is a forum and not many ultimately do. Still, we all enjoy hanging out here and chewing the cud.

[smoothrunnings]

What do you mean higher prices? To buy an Galaxy S4 here it would cost me $599+ taxes, about the same price of a BB10 device. Please clarify your statements!

[texazzpete]

The Z10 is now selling for 0.00 (zero) to as high as 100 bucks. What are you talking about. Same price as an icrap 4S or 5.
Are you talking about retail which no one pays except for people that drop their phone in the toilet in the morning? Then
you better price out the iphones at retail. Be sitting down.

Has someone never told this guy that there are other countries in the world that aren't the USA?

There are VERY MANY countries worldwide where phones are bought outright, off contract. Most of those countries are the only places where Blackberry has experienced any growth in the last 2 years. And BB10 devices there are priced too high to move volumes.

[cckgz4]

I think the prices play a MAJOR part in why Blackberry is slow-selling. If they were competitively priced, consumers might not worry too much about the ecosystem and be willing to try it out

[sk8er_tor]

How are BlackBerry 10 phones are more expensive than competitors? What country are you in? Maybe the carriers in your countries are not subsidising BlackBerry 10 phones like they are other phones?

Here in Canada...

Rogers:


TELUS:


Bell:

[rajbir01]

What r u talking about? The z10 is now free with at&t or is a dollar on contract.

Posted via CB10

[rajbir01]

Is it tortologous to reply to a thread by saying you don't know why anyone is bothering to answer? Or is it Oxymoronic?

There are lots of threads that make one wonder why people reply, but then we all pile in with our 2 cents. There are lots of subjects being flogged to death over and over and over again. Why are the A10's specs so low, why high specs don't matter, why the Playbook not getting OS10 is a major letdown, when is 10.2 coming out, when is such and such an app coming out, etc.

I don't think I have a point, but then this is a forum and not many ultimately do. Still, we all enjoy hanging out here and chewing the cud.

You my friend...are dumb

Posted via CB10

[Jahmal A]

People don't buy smartphones for the OS, they buy them for the brand. How else to explain Samsung's success? Don't say marketing, marketing can't explain the success of Xiaomi. If people truly chose phones by OS, then there really wouldn't be much to distinguish a Samsung from an LG from an HTC and one would expect all to sell evenly. We all know that's not the case. There was a time when Blackberry had such brand recognition and desirability, but they blew it.

What I mean is that people won't buy a phone if the OS does not satisfy his/her needs. Or at least they won't buy another one. Samsung does better than the other Android based phones because they consistently come out with new devices of different tiers at competitive prices. My argument is that if Samsung (or any manufacturers') had poor user experiences, there would not be so many returning costumers. Some people would only buy Android because of the customizable interface; some buy iPhone/iPad/iPod just because of simplicity. I've met many previous BlackBerry owners who switched to iPhone only because it was simpler to operate.

I'm not saying OS is the only reason. But it is a factor, if not the initial starting point. I would like to think that the world is not just filled with lemmings that just follow the crowd. But I could be wrong.

Just my two cents.

[k-fos]

for me personally, 'premium' means paying for something more to avoid having the same phone as the three of my mom's sisters, my grandfather, my two 5 years nieces, the fishball noodle sellers downstairs my condo, that kopitiam uncles opposite my office and that same group of school kids everyday at the bus stop after work. 'premium' to me also means I don't have to wait half to full one year (if I m lucky) for a jelly bean point release and using a close to stock launcher to avoid the fugly unremovable unoptimized laggy custom UI from Samsung, HTC or Sony plus unremovable bloatwares unless you root or unlock your device, voiding warranty and bricking your phone. 'premium' to me also means having my phone manufacturer owning and control their hardware, software and future of their smartphones and not at the mercy of company like Microsoft. and finally, premium' to me also means the satisfying feeling of pressing the exctinct but best in the world, beautifully sculpted smartphone keyboard that no other companies produce anymore today.

anyway, that just my definition. for others, maybe it's just all about specs and hardware features.

Posted via CB10

+1. Well said.

[Hilman76]

How are BlackBerry 10 phones are more expensive than competitors? What country are you in? Maybe the carriers in your countries are not subsidising BlackBerry 10 phones like they are other phones?

Here in Canada...

I think the OP meant that the prices at launch were the same, the S4, HTC One and Z10 were all $199 on a 3 year contract which made the Z10 overpriced considering it has lesser hardware, a tiny ecosystem and ran a brand new OS (usually isn't as polished).

[Dave Bourque]

I think the OP meant that the prices at launch were the same, the S4, HTC One and Z10 were all $199 on a 3 year contract which made the Z10 overpriced considering it has lesser hardware, a tiny ecosystem and ran a brand new OS (usually isn't as polished).

For a new OS bb10 is pretty damn polished.

Sent from my BB10 smartphone.

[BuuKarim88]

You are paying them for their lifetime support. So they will continue to support your device until it reach limit. Just like apple, price high and still continue to enroll their latest os to their ancient device.
This is why BlackBerry told us that they will still continue to support their ancient device as we pay them for that.
Android device need support from outside once their phone is no longer supported. As for BlackBerry, we get support directly from them as long as our device is not reaching its limit.
This is why I think their price here is reasonable.
Some may arguing about playbook but they dont think about their device limit. What will happen to their device once it received OS10? BlackBerry do announced that they will continue to support. So they will.

Posted via CB10

[bekkay]

I personally don't think its too high. Considering a S4 somehow still lags with quadcores....

Touchwiz out of the box lags. It's not as bad as many people think though (it's just occasional stutter).

However, you can always buy the Google Edition (or custom ROM your s4) and then compare it to a BB10 phone. You'll be pleasantly surprised. Or unpleasantly, depending on your perspective.

[Dave Bourque]

Touchwiz out of the box lags. It's not as bad as many people think though (it's just occasional stutter).

However, you can always buy the Google Edition (or custom ROM your s4) and then compare it to a BB10 phone. You'll be pleasantly surprised. Or unpleasantly, depending on your perspective.

With specs like that I would expect it to be faster.

Sent from my BB10 smartphone.

[bekkay]

With specs like that I would expect it to be faster.

Sent from my BB10 smartphone.

It is faster.