[jetman1287]

Ouch

AT&T surprised at slow Torch sales while Android, iPhone win | Electronista

AT&T's President of Wireless Operations in the US West, Fred Devereux, hinted today that sales of the BlackBerry Torch were disappointing. He told those at Seattle's Mobile Future Forward conference that he was "surprised there hasn't been a faster adoption" of the phone, which he thought was the best-ever BlackBerry to date. He didn't provide numbers, but the statement was unusual and backed unofficial analyst views that sales had cooled quickly after launch.

Follow-up remarks suggested that Apple and Google may have been the primary factors. There was "tremendous momentum" for Android, Devereux said. The company only has a handful of Android devices headlined by the Samsung Captivate, but the iPhone has been a perpetual strong seller at AT&T and this year is still seeing shortages, even after nearly three months of availability.

Various factors have been speculated behind any possible sluggishness in Torch sales. As the BlackBerry is still led by corporate sales, many customers may simply be tied to work accounts that won't or can't upgrade automatically. Electronista and others have also pointed out technical issues that may have disappointed buyers and led them to switch, such as a display resolution and processor unchanged from 2008 despite the more demanding BlackBerry 6 platform.

Regardless of choice, the executive thought it was "amazing" how many could spend $200 on a smartphone and noticed the trends weren't slowing. "People are not buying basic phones anymore," he said.

[mark_rivers19]

it really depends on how much sales they were expecting..
if they were predicting somewhere near the iphone sales ( 3G, 3GS and iphone 4) then they are delusional.
but still.. i like the phone since day 1 and i still like it up to now..
i don't really care about the stocks nor if 5 or 50 people in the subway has my phone..if i did.. i need to get a job and find some better things to do.

[blazed12]

Ouch. Already been posted.

http://forums.crackberry.com/f209/t-...8/#post5560739

Your late.

[avt123]

Didn't see this coming at all...

[Jmaxim]

Why is he surprised? Maybe if AT&T would allow current BB owners in contract to purchase the Torch at the discounted price as is done with the iPhone, then maybe he will see some better numbers.

[mark_rivers19]

Why is he surprised? Maybe if AT&T would allow current BB owners in contract to purchase the Torch at the discounted price as is done with the iPhone, then maybe he will see some better numbers.

it's really hard to comment when we don't even know the numbers they were referring to...
it would have been more helpful if they said something like... we were anticipating 1,000,000 sales on launch date but only got 150,000 units

[Berrydale]

I've read reviews of the Torch on a number of tech blog sites. If they are BB only sites, it gets a good review, usually. Almost every other blog site expresses disappointments towards the Torch and only gives it like-warm reviews.

Techno junkies want more these days. Android and iOS deliver it, BB not so much. RIM is sticking with its enterprize approach, which is hard to fault. But alot of the younger users and the more tech savey users are no longer satisfied with the limitations of BlackBerry. This will continue unless Rim can leap forward and catch up.

Because of that, I'm not surprised by the article in the original post.

[Roo Zilla]

Well, Verizon sold like 500,000 Storms the first month. I presume they were hoping to do at least that well.

[avt123]

Well, Verizon sold like 500,000 Storms the first month. I presume they were hoping to do at least that well.

Yes but remember, the Storm was Verizons and RIMs answer to the iPhone at the time. You had tons of Verizon users wanting an iPhone like device, and that was the closest thing to it. I believe it was the only capacitive touchscreen at the time on Verizon.

The Torch is going against the Captivate and the iPhone. The iPhone is an AT&T exclusive and so is the Torch. You have the Torch going against the number one exclusive device in the country, on the same carrier. The word "success" doesn't come to my mind when it is in that type of situation. Let's not even mention the hardware it has compared to the devices it is siting right next to on the shelves.

[infamyx]

The 9800 having slow sales isn't surprising in the least bit, the only people who were going to get it have...there is zero luster to the device compared to the latest and greatest from Apple and Android makers. The same will happen when it goes worldwide but I suspect sales will be even smaller.

I hate to see sales of the Storm when it will have to compete with WP7 and flurry of new Android devices later this year

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[JRSCCivic98]

A complete 180 in what the OS is would have made for better sales. Universal Search and polished icons DOES NOT make a new and innovative OS offering. Hardware hasn't ever been the #1 issue with BB. Software has... that's what still sucks right now. RIM should have released OS6 type OS versions back in 2007. Right now, it's too little too late. I guess we'll have to wait and see what RIM might be working on next in terms of OSs.

[GoldenBlaze]

This is not shocking my any means. RIM should have never given the Torch to AT&T in the first place. If anything, it shouldve gone to Verizon, considering that its the only network that can truly withstand the network traffic and have a bigger market to retail the device. Since the iPhone, the AT&T network has been over-saturated to say the least and outside of the iPhone, no other manufacturer is really selling even close to the amount of units that Apple is currently.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[asp13]

Doesn't really mean anything since he is only a regional president anyway. I know there are quite a few markets that can't keep the Torch in stock. This article would have more meaning if it came from the CEO, who's expectations are based more in reality.

[John Yester]

http://forums.crackberry.com/f209/t-...-sales-526338/