1. anon(55900)'s Avatar
    Passport released October 2014, and it sells for around the same price as what Priv can be found for!
    05-18-16 07:22 PM
  2. Polt's Avatar
    That should give ya an idea on how big a flop the priv was.
    acovey and Old_Mil like this.
    05-18-16 08:08 PM
  3. Troy Tiscareno's Avatar
    The only reason that the Priv is as cheap as it is is because AT&T dumped their Priv inventory. Once those AT&T Privs dry up, the price will climb again, because BB isn't discounting it, and neither are the other carriers - who just recently started carrying it.
    05-18-16 08:13 PM
  4. kvndoom's Avatar
    Android phones don't hold their value because there are so many hands in the cookie jar. Even "top of the line" android phones only hold that status for a few months at best because specs change so quickly.

    Apple and BB(10) are alike in that proprietary hardware and software means the release channel is controlled and a competitor can't one-up them with the same OS on better specs.

    Not to mention the priv was priced too high at launch. That didn't help either.
    05-18-16 08:17 PM
  5. Prem WatsApp's Avatar
    Android phones don't hold their value because there are so many hands in the cookie jar. Even "top of the line" android phones only hold that status for a few months at best because specs change so quickly.

    Apple and BB(10) are alike in that proprietary hardware and software means the release channel is controlled and a competitor can't one-up them with the same OS on better specs.

    Not to mention the priv was priced too high at launch. That didn't help either.
    Android is a cesspool... :-)
    A messy one...

    �   There's a Crack in the Berry right now...   �
    05-18-16 09:36 PM
  6. anon(55900)'s Avatar
    The only reason that the Priv is as cheap as it is is because AT&T dumped their Priv inventory. Once those AT&T Privs dry up, the price will climb again, because BB isn't discounting it, and neither are the other carriers - who just recently started carrying it.
    Troy;I think the lower priced ATT phones are going to saturate the market permanently, soaking the available interest in Priv. The others might try for a month to keep a high price but when they see demand has dwindled to only a handful of those who are only curious. They will drop price too, the reports of terrible battery drain from so many has killed any future buyers. Even the short time that I owned a Priv and I did not load any new Apps, I had terrible battery drain. I could live with most anything else but cannot such low battery life. I think if the Priv truly did have a 25 hours battery life with mixed use, many heads would have turned. It's not too late for a miracle that if tomorrow the battery did what bb said it would do many would jump on the Priv, but it better happen soon.
    Polt likes this.
    05-19-16 05:48 AM
  7. ray689's Avatar
    Troy;I think the lower priced ATT phones are going to saturate the market permanently, soaking the available interest in Priv. The others might try for a month to keep a high price but when they see demand has dwindled to only a handful of those who are only curious. They will drop price too, the reports of terrible battery drain from so many has killed any future buyers. Even the short time that I owned a Priv and I did not load any new Apps, I had terrible battery drain. I could live with most anything else but cannot such low battery life. I think if the Priv truly did have a 25 hours battery life with mixed use, many heads would have turned. It's not too late for a miracle that if tomorrow the battery did what bb said it would do many would jump on the Priv, but it better happen soon.
    With Marshmallow it does actually.

    Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android
    05-19-16 06:13 AM
  8. Polt's Avatar
    Troy;I think the lower priced ATT phones are going to saturate the market permanently, soaking the available interest in Priv. The others might try for a month to keep a high price but when they see demand has dwindled to only a handful of those who are only curious. They will drop price too, the reports of terrible battery drain from so many has killed any future buyers. Even the short time that I owned a Priv and I did not load any new Apps, I had terrible battery drain. I could live with most anything else but cannot such low battery life. I think if the Priv truly did have a 25 hours battery life with mixed use, many heads would have turned. It's not too late for a miracle that if tomorrow the battery did what bb said it would do many would jump on the Priv, but it better happen soon.
    And I'd say AT&T is selling the priv at a much fair price when compared to BlackBerry's prices.
    05-19-16 08:23 AM
  9. Dunt Dunt Dunt's Avatar
    Troy;I think the lower priced ATT phones are going to saturate the market permanently, soaking the available interest in Priv. The others might try for a month to keep a high price but when they see demand has dwindled to only a handful of those who are only curious. They will drop price too, the reports of terrible battery drain from so many has killed any future buyers. Even the short time that I owned a Priv and I did not load any new Apps, I had terrible battery drain. I could live with most anything else but cannot such low battery life. I think if the Priv truly did have a 25 hours battery life with mixed use, many heads would have turned. It's not too late for a miracle that if tomorrow the battery did what bb said it would do many would jump on the Priv, but it better happen soon.
    Most that installed Marshmallow, or installed it and did a Factory Reset... seem to not have the battery issues now.

    I kinda wonder how long the PRIV will be in production at this point.... Would make more sense to remove it before the Hamburg is released than to have it competing against it in close to the same price, but not the same margins. Either way I agree with Troy, you won't see BlackBerry reducing their ASP enough to keep the prices in the $400 - $500 range. Now what other retailers and carriers do to move existing stock... that is different.
    05-19-16 08:44 AM
  10. Troy Tiscareno's Avatar
    The issue is that the AT&T Privs aren't really competing with the Verizon Privs in the US - because an AT&T Priv is useless to someone on Verizon. So I'm not really sure how much the clearance is going to affect Verizon. It does show how the "exclusive period" almost certainly harms BB more than it helps, but AT&T may have required an exclusive period in order to carry it in the first place.

    Anyway, the Priv is out of production - all the Privs that will ever be made will have been already. At the volumes we're dealing with these days, production ends before the product actually reaches retail. Note that there was clearly a second run for the Verizon model, but again, that run will have ended by the time the phone was actually released.
    05-19-16 10:48 AM
  11. smart548's Avatar
    The issue is that the AT&T Privs aren't really competing with the Verizon Privs in the US - because an AT&T Priv is useless to someone on Verizon. So I'm not really sure how much the clearance is going to affect Verizon. It does show how the "exclusive period" almost certainly harms BB more than it helps, but AT&T may have required an exclusive period in order to carry it in the first place.

    Anyway, the Priv is out of production - all the Privs that will ever be made will have been already. At the volumes we're dealing with these days, production ends before the product actually reaches retail. Note that there was clearly a second run for the Verizon model, but again, that run will have ended by the time the phone was actually released.
    So you are 100% sure BlackBerry stopped the Priv production? :-O That's big news! How can you be that sure?

    Posted via CB10
    05-19-16 10:51 AM
  12. ronfc's Avatar
    Android phones don't hold their value because there are so many hands in the cookie jar. Even "top of the line" android phones only hold that status for a few months at best because specs change so quickly.
    Well, back in the day when I still have my Z10, I saw its price plummeted from USD 700 to just 200, in just a year.
    05-19-16 12:11 PM
  13. kvndoom's Avatar
    Well, back in the day when I still have my Z10, I saw its price plummeted from USD 700 to just 200, in just a year.
    True, but they built way more supply than there turned out to be a demand for. By the time they got to the Passport and Classic, BlackBerry was limiting production, as well as pricing lower. That helps prevent writeoffs and fire sales.

    I'm curious if there will be a hardware write-off for the Priv, or if the discounted phones are still selling at or above true cost.

    Passport SE, "The BlockBerry" - Cricket Wireless
    05-19-16 12:39 PM
  14. BerrySoul's Avatar
    The BB10Os Passport SE is much superior than that crapdroid Priv.

    Posted via CB10
    acovey likes this.
    05-19-16 08:23 PM
  15. acovey's Avatar
    I think the only hope for the Priv is to load it with BB10.
    05-19-16 08:49 PM
  16. ronfc's Avatar
    I think the only hope for the Priv is to load it with BB10.
    You probably still don't realize of the implications if this happen. Yes, BlackBerry fans would love it, but I doubt it's going to save a sinking ship.
    05-19-16 09:31 PM
  17. Polt's Avatar
    I think the only hope for the Priv is to load it with BB10.
    BB10 almost killed your beloved BlackBerry.
    05-19-16 09:42 PM
  18. Troy Tiscareno's Avatar
    So you are 100% sure BlackBerry stopped the Priv production? :-O That's big news! How can you be that sure?
    I know how manufacturing works. Before the Priv was launched, BB had to speak to all of their retailers (mostly carriers) to see who wanted the Priv and how many. They then had to come up with a number for their order: how many units did they need to meet immediate and eventual demand? With demand as low as BB's has been (a few hundred thousand per quarter), the Priv doesn't need to be in continuous production - that only happens when ongoing demand exceeds the manufacturing output.

    Once BB placed the order (let's say 1M Privs for the worldwide launch) BB's manufacturing partner converted a production line or 2 over to making the Priv. This is a several-week-long process of retooling and calibrating the production lines and training the workers. Then, they ran those production lines at near full-speed until they'd made 1M Privs, which would take no more than 4-6 weeks probably. Those phones would then be bulk-packed and sent to BB's fulfillment warehouses in several parts of the world.

    BB then sent the launch orders from the various carriers to their fulfillment warehouses, who would take the bulk-packed Privs, flash the appropriate OS (with correct localized language, etc.), and package it with accessories and packaging appropriate for that carrier. The completed batch is then shipped out, and a week or so later, the product is "officially launched" and customers can start buying. But note that by the time the first customer bought a Priv, it was already "out of production."

    Now, when Verizon finally ordered the Priv, a new model had to be made with CDMA radios and Verizon markings (these units have a different sub-number), so a production line had to be set up to build those. Obviously not as many of these were made as the first production run, because those Privs were sold world-wide, while Verizon models are sold only on Verizon in the US and maybe 1 or 2 other carriers who use compatible radios.

    Phones that were produced on either production run that weren't immediately sent out to fulfill orders sit in warehouses in their bulk packaging until someone orders another batch. At that time, phones are pulled from the closest warehouse, flashed, and packaged. This is why there are packaging dates on the box labels (and why these are NOT manufacturing dates). Sometimes the flashed image may need to be updated, or inserts or box materials changed or updated, and the later batches can have this done. It's also possible that a carrier orders a bunch of phones but returns them unsold - these can be repackaged and sold to a different carrier.

    All of this is normal manufacturing and distributing activity, and the same would be true of any manufacturer - UNLESS demand for their product is high enough that they need continuous ongoing manufacturing - which is really only true for a handful of smartphone companies - notably Samsung and Apple.

    But no one should be shocked that a company selling 600k phones or less per quarter (only half of which were Privs) is not keeping a phone in continuous production.
    JeepBB, smart548 and Polt like this.
    05-19-16 10:41 PM
  19. Polt's Avatar
    I know how manufacturing works.
    I agree with you, Troy.
    I think it's safe to assume that BlackBerry may not be manufacturing any devices.
    BB10 still has stock, the PRIV can be bought at quail prices from AT&T, and still it's not selling enough.
    This all makes blaze 's recent 'rebranding idol 4' rumor more convincing.

    I personally see them forfeiting the whole hardware game in 2017.
    05-20-16 12:08 AM
  20. Wezard's Avatar
    The only reason that the Priv is as cheap as it is is because AT&T dumped their Priv inventory. Once those AT&T Privs dry up, the price will climb again, because BB isn't discounting it, and neither are the other carriers - who just recently started carrying it.
    AT&T has not dumped their inventory, they are still selling them at $639.99.
    Nobody knows where all the cheap devices are coming from, theories include out of business or struggling 'AT&T Authorized Retailers' liquidating stock, or they are actually returns and or refurbed units from BB and/or AT&T.

    Between the marginal build quality on the early devices, poor battery life on many, and now, the updates being locked to carrier fiasco. I'm willing to concede the Priv is prob dead in the water. Which is too bad, because if you got a good one, as I did, it's a great phone.
    05-20-16 06:39 AM
  21. Dunt Dunt Dunt's Avatar
    AT&T has not dumped their inventory, they are still selling them at $639.99.
    Nobody knows where all the cheap devices are coming from, theories include out of business or struggling 'AT&T Authorized Retailers' liquidating stock, or they are actually returns and or refurbed units from BB and/or AT&T.

    Between the marginal build quality on the early devices, poor battery life on many, and now, the updates being locked to carrier fiasco. I'm willing to concede the Priv is prob dead in the water. Which is too bad, because if you got a good one, as I did, it's a great phone.
    The problem is there are lots of great phones out there. And many of these phones are being released by Companies with a positive brand images, they are phones consumers have heard of via marketing and advertising by the OEM's and even the Carriers. And in many cases those other well knows phones are priced at a more "affordable" price. Especially when Carriers (at least here in the US) are willing to either subsidise or discount the price of said phones. With the S7 most had them BOGO, and I know a few cases where both AT&T and Verizon did upgrade contracts for $199 for the S7 and the iPhone.
    05-20-16 07:57 AM
  22. Wezard's Avatar
    The problem is there are lots of great phones out there. And many of these phones are being released by Companies with a positive brand images, they are phones consumers have heard of via marketing and advertising by the OEM's and even the Carriers. And in many cases those other well knows phones are priced at a more "affordable" price. Especially when Carriers (at least here in the US) are willing to either subsidise or discount the price of said phones. With the S7 most had them BOGO, and I know a few cases where both AT&T and Verizon did upgrade contracts for $199 for the S7 and the iPhone.
    No argument from me.
    Most consumers don't even know BB still makes phones, the few who do, have heard about the problems with the Priv.
    Even if the Priv problems are only a small fraction of the total, (please don't start about what percent, it doesn't matter) the bad publicity is going to make it really rough for BB to sell any of the promised 2 new devices.

    I'm not going to predict the end of BB hardware, but,..................................
    05-20-16 08:43 AM
  23. Dunt Dunt Dunt's Avatar
    No argument from me.
    Most consumers don't even know BB still makes phones, the few who do, have heard about the problems with the Priv.
    Even if the Priv problems are only a small fraction of the total, (please don't start about what percent, it doesn't matter) the bad publicity is going to make it really rough for BB to sell any of the promised 2 new devices.

    I'm not going to predict the end of BB hardware, but,..................................
    Problems with the PRIV for the most part I chalk up to there are always problems... the reviews by users have been pretty positive outside of forums.... Professional Reviewers (even they had some duds though) and reviews on Carrier sites and Amazon. It failed due to lack of marketing and being less than premium at a more than premium price.

    But "publicly" I don't think these two new Android Berries will be a factor. I'm not sure how many carriers will pickup another low selling BlackBerry... not even sure if BlackBerry does a more direct sales method (even more direct than using Digital River to power ShopBlackBerry) just how much exposure outside of enterprise customers that BlackBerry will expect.

    I think BlackBerry is just another Android OEM, but one with a enterprise security type focus. Their competition is BlackPhone and KNOX, and just like those two there really isn't going to be much public interest in these devcies and their much higher prices.
    05-20-16 09:07 AM
  24. anon(55900)'s Avatar
    I think the only hope for the Priv is to load it with BB10.
    If only that were to happen!!
    acovey likes this.
    05-20-16 09:13 AM
  25. Wezard's Avatar
    Here's to hoping we're both wrong
    I'm not betting on it though.
    05-20-16 09:16 AM
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