Are there any viable alternatives to BB?

I'm a BlackBerry loyalist for years now, however, I recently read that John Chen said that BlackBerry may very well have to exit the handset business. I'm also a Sprint loyalist which as you know means I have no upgrade options. I have a Q10 which I am stuck with unless I want to change wireless providers. Believe it or not, I don't care for any of the other providers which is why I haven't switched in 15 years. I don't like the pricing of other carriers.

Anyway, there is no reason for me to even entertain changing carriers simply because they offer BlackBerrys if BlackBerry is going to exit the business entirely. I've looked at other handsets and the bottom line is, I don't like ANY other phone besides BlackBerry. I still believe BlackBerry makes better phones. Smart phones that double as entertainment hubs do not appeal to me at all. I have a tablet for that. My question to the rest of the community is, what alternatives are you considering if BlackBerry phones are no longer an option?

Posted via CB10

If you want the physical keyboard then I'd say there are no real alternatives. J. Chen did say they may have to exit if profits can't be made. He has not said they are exiting, though I'd bet if the next quarter of financials show a bigger decline in hardware sales and larger losses, the hardware is probably done for at least a while.

The real question is -- we know BlackBerry plans to release a couple of phones a year in the US (one or two, but maybe one). So will Sprint get a version? The slider is the next thing in line. As you probably know to use Sprint you need the Sprint version of the phone. Whereas AT&T and T-Mobile can each use unlocked devices sold direct by BlackBerry or by BlackBerry through Amazon.

The physical keyboard is a big, no a HUGE deal for me. I may not be crazy about the other phones but I would be more receptive if they had a keyboard.

I am at a loss because of Sprint. I wish they still sold BlackBerry phones but I am not optimistic about that ever happening again.

I am extremely frustrated. I can switch to a carrier I don't like to get an updated BlackBerry or stay with my preferred carrier and use a phone I don't like. Classic lose/lose.

Posted via CB10

Yeah the problem with Sprint is BlackBerry has to make a special version of any device for them. And they don't have the sell through volume of the big carriers. So they are the least likely to make a Sprint phone.

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android