[dutchtender]

Verizon BlackBerry Sales Down 45% Since Last Year - Research

[jonkjon]

It's hard to sell them when you don't have any to sell......

[lssanjose]

That, or they're pushing their Droid quotas. Nothing against Droids, but I know it's what they're trying to push.

[dutchtender]

That, or they're pushing their Droid quotas. Nothing against Droids, but I know it's what they're trying to push.

yeah. it's the droids for sure. but what happens when ip4 and wp7 get to verizon. what a barroom brawl....

[1812dave]

I couldn't care less about sales stats. I buy what I want--not what sells the most. Sometimes what I want coincides with the market leader and other times it doesn't. big deal. I don't follow "fashion" or trends--I simply do my homework and pick the products that I believe will work the best for ME.

[the_sandman_454]

It definitely would have helped their sales to have had something new and exciting released on the BB front other than refreshes.

Then again, for the consumer market it is hard to beat their other lineups for things the average consumer is going to want such as the web, and so forth...

[pcgizmo#IM]

Buyers just aren't snapping up BlackBerries. Android sells, Storm2 fails!

[ThePinkChameleon]

they def have no prob pushing the droid sales. About 3 or so wks ago, I went into my local Vzw store to check out the Bold to be sure that will be my next device. Upon entering the store, a rep was there to greet me, ask me what device I'm interested in and then casually (sp?) Told me about the Samsung Fascinate, which just so happened to be right next to the Bold I was interest in. I said politely "no thanks, I'm a blackberry fan" So does this stat chart surprise me? Not in the least bit, but there are plenty of Blackberry users that will stay with the device because it has what they as a user needs. Like myself.

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[Tripster]

I couldn't care less about sales stats. I buy what I want--not what sells the most. Sometimes what I want coincides with the market leader and other times it doesn't. big deal. I don't follow "fashion" or trends--I simply do my homework and pick the products that I believe will work the best for ME.

Very well said and I highly agree.

Thnx, �Tripster�

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[SCrid2000]

Yeah it's the android pushing. Me and my wife went into a VZW store cuz the Sprint one didn't have functional BB displays out. Even after I told the salesman that my wife just wanted to look at the curve (we looked at some androids at the Sprint store), he kept talking about his android. He left us alone tho when I told him we were staying with Sprint tho.

[dutchtender]

I am beginning to think google bucks (perhaps via the manufacturers) are available to t s vz and tmo salesman to push "droids"....

[howarmat]

this shouldnt matter to VZW, they get sales of Android instead to replace BB sales lost for the most part, but RIM cant be happy to be losing that many sells in the nations largest carrier

[SCrid2000]

I am beginning to think google bucks (perhaps via the manufacturers) are available to t s vz and tmo salesman to push "droids"....

I think so too - that or VZW just gets a bigger cut of the sale from Android. And I suppose there's no import/export fees to worry about either.

[pcgizmo#IM]

this shouldnt matter to VZW, they get sales of Android instead to replace BB sales lost for the most part, but RIM cant be happy to be losing that many sells in the nations largest carrier

Exactly, I doubt Verizon cares which device they sell. Consumers are choosing Android.

[BBMINI]

I suspect that graph will only look even worse for RIM (on a % basis) once VZW starts carrying iPhones.

I'd also be interested in seeing a chart that showed VZW's total growth in smartphone unit sales and the various smartphone brands represented on that same chart. For example sake, if VZW sold 1 Million BBs last year and that was 90% of their total smartphone unit sales, then it's possible that maybe VZW still sold 1 Million BBs again this year (so the total BB unit count didn't decrease) but they sold a TON more Droids and everything else (since the smartphone market itself is growing quickly) which walloped BB's "market share" % within the VZW offering.

Obviously, even if RIM sold the same number of units through VZW this year and last year, the overall implications for BB still aren't good if all the other brands are eating RIM's lunch in % market share growth. I'd just like to see the chart showing the sheer numbers of units sold as opposed to just percentages to get a better feel for how the growth of smartphones overall is affecting the brand representations.

[jusdis]

Every company pushes the "newest, better" products.... Every product comes in waves. Something new today will be replaced by something better in a matter of months. Its just how technology is. It doesn't help that the majority of consumers are sheep when it comes to technology. You tell a person who doesn't know any better that product A is better than product B and since the don't have a vast knowledge of either products they will go with the "newer better".

If things go well with RIM and QNX when they start releasing devices you can be sure that salespersons will begin to push RIM products again.

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[JRZLocal]

That, or they're pushing their Droid quotas. Nothing against Droids, but I know it's what they're trying to push.

The top of the line bb verizon offers is the Bold and that came out in June. Since then they've released the Droid Incredible, Droid X, Droid2, Droid Pro, and Samsung Fascinate. I don't think verizon reps are necessarily pushing droid over blackberry. Its just that RIM hasn't released anything new to sell.

[lssanjose]

Well, if you take a look at their marketing strategy regarding blackberry, it's usually a BOGO mention. At least with one storm commercial, they did try and push the device for once, and not as an aforementioned BOGO.

[dutchtender]

Every company pushes the "newest, better" products.... Every product comes in waves. Something new today will be replaced by something better in a matter of months. Its just how technology is. It doesn't help that the majority of consumers are sheep when it comes to technology. You tell a person who doesn't know any better that product A is better than product B and since the don't have a vast knowledge of either products they will go with the "newer better".

If things go well with RIM and QNX when they start releasing devices you can be sure that salespersons will begin to push RIM products again.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

you mean like they pushed Torch over Iphone?

[dutchtender]

Well, if you take a look at their marketing strategy regarding blackberry, it's usually a BOGO mention. At least with one storm commercial, they did try and push the device for once, and not as an aforementioned BOGO.

that's right....a lot of those sales on VZ were bogo so rim can't even give em away on big red anymore it seems...

[Xopher]

The top of the line bb verizon offers is the Bold and that came out in June. Since then they've released the Droid Incredible, Droid X, Droid2, Droid Pro, and Samsung Fascinate. I don't think verizon reps are necessarily pushing droid over blackberry. Its just that RIM hasn't released anything new to sell.

I have to think that this is probably one of the strong factors going into it. After all, the Bold upgrade from the Tour wasn't a large leap by any means. Neither was switching from the 8530 to the 9330. The current BlackBerry offerings at VZW don't have a strong wow-factor, which the Android devices do.

It'll be interesting to see how the Playbook is received, and if any QNX-based BlackBerry models follow.

[Witmen]

The top of the line bb verizon offers is the Bold and that came out in June. Since then they've released the Droid Incredible, Droid X, Droid2, Droid Pro, and Samsung Fascinate. I don't think verizon reps are necessarily pushing droid over blackberry. Its just that RIM hasn't released anything new to sell.

Dude I went into the VZW store to buy a Bold 9650, I had done all the research, I knew exactly what I wanted and when I walked in the store I told the sales rep straight off the bat "I am here to buy a Bold 9650, I don't need to play with one. Or anything like that I just want to buy it and leave"

The sales rep asked my why I wanted one and then informed that it was a poor choice of a phone. He told me he once had one and he felt really stupid when all of his friends started showing him their new droids. So stupid that he had to put his POS Bold on Ebay so he could buy a android off contract.

He stressed over and over that the Bold was a bad phone and went as far as to say "I will sell you one, But you'll regret your decision later."

He never once asked me what my needs were. He didn't even care that I had done my own research and had decided on what my next phone would be before hand. He just automatically assumed that Android would be a better fit for me. I asked to see his manager and I asked him why I couldn't just buy a Bold and leave, without being made to feel like a ****** because of my phone choice. And the manager had the nerve to ask me if I had tried out the Incredible yet.

Situations like mine are not rare. I know they aren't because I dealt with the same exact BS when I bought my S2. If that isn't pushing I don't know what is. I went home and ordered my Bold off of VZW's website. Which I will be doing from now on.

[lnichols]

But they are apparently selling awesome in Sumatra where the GDP per capita per year is less $3000. That's all that is important.

[dutchtender]

Dude I went into the VZW store to buy a Bold 9650, I had done all the research, I knew exactly what I wanted and when I walked in the store I told the sales rep straight off the bat "I am here to buy a Bold 9650, I don't need to play with one. Or anything like that I just want to buy it and leave"

The sales rep asked my why I wanted one and then informed that it was a poor choice of a phone. He told me he once had one and he felt really stupid when all of his friends started showing him their new droids. So stupid that he had to put his POS Bold on Ebay so he could buy a android off contract.

He stressed over and over that the Bold was a bad phone and went as far as to say "I will sell you one, But you'll regret your decision later."

He never once asked me what my needs were. He didn't even care that I had done my own research and had decided on what my next phone would be before hand. He just automatically assumed that Android would be a better fit for me. I asked to see his manager and I asked him why I couldn't just buy a Bold and leave, without being made to feel like a ****** because of my phone choice. And the manager had the nerve to ask me if I had tried out the Incredible yet.

Situations like mine are not rare. I know they aren't because I dealt with the same exact BS when I bought my S2. If that isn't pushing I don't know what is. I went home and ordered my Bold off of VZW's website. Which I will be doing from now on.

8 out of 10 customers walking in under these circumstances would have been very well served by the advice of this salesman. I would give him a raise.

[WillieLee]

I suspect that graph will only look even worse for RIM (on a % basis) once VZW starts carrying iPhones.

I'd also be interested in seeing a chart that showed VZW's total growth in smartphone unit sales and the various smartphone brands represented on that same chart. For example sake, if VZW sold 1 Million BBs last year and that was 90% of their total smartphone unit sales, then it's possible that maybe VZW still sold 1 Million BBs again this year (so the total BB unit count didn't decrease) but they sold a TON more Droids and everything else (since the smartphone market itself is growing quickly) which walloped BB's "market share" % within the VZW offering.

That is all this research report is showing. Verizon added more smartphones and started promoting them aggressively. RIM's market share was high during the start of this tracking period because they were the only manufacturer that continued to grow during the recession while others declined heavily. But seeing as how people can't remember anything that is overlooked.

Obviously, even if RIM sold the same number of units through VZW this year and last year, the overall implications for BB still aren't good if all the other brands are eating RIM's lunch in % market share growth. I'd just like to see the chart showing the sheer numbers of units sold as opposed to just percentages to get a better feel for how the growth of smartphones overall is affecting the brand representations.

Verizon stopped reporting individual device sales in February 2009. And RIM only released two devices on Verizon this year and still have 20% of the sales according to ITG. Funny that they can release almost nothing,outpace most of the competition and it still gets spun as negative.

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