Blackberry Classic

[BlackBerryRulez]

Hey everyone,

 

Just wanted to let y'all know that the BlackBerry Classic is launching tomorrow, with events in New York, Singapore, and Frankfurt. The NY event starts at 10:00am EST. It will be streamed live at the official link below.

 

http://live.blackberry.events/

 

Can't wait for it to start!

[joshnys8913]

BB used to be good, now they are barley hanging on, just saying!!

[jamisonshaw125]

BB used to be good, now they are barley hanging on, just saying!!

Pretty sure the passport sold out in like the first 2 weeks. It was pretty popular.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6 using Crapatalk

[MacinJosh]

BB used to be good, now they are barley hanging on, just saying!!

Barley sounds delicious.

 

In all seriousness, if Blackberry stops making phones, they still have BBM and BES that can live on. They are hanging on better than we think. BBM has gained a lot of popularity since it was released on iOS and Android.

 

 

Sent from Josh's iPhone 6+ using Tapatalk

[BlackBerryRulez]

BB used to be good, now they are barley hanging on, just saying!!

 

Actually they're better than "barely hanging on". The worst of the financial losses are over. We'll see what the next quarterly results are, but I'm predicting minimal losses, if there are any losses at all. They've launched four phones this year, the most recent being the Passport. It continues to be a strong seller, and the preorders sold out on big vendors like Amazon and ShopBlackBerry.

 

Since they're not going out of business anytime soon, there's increasing confidence in BlackBerry as a phone and enterprise platform. Recently this year, Samsung turned to BlackBerry to help increase the security of their KNOX program. Canada announced today that they're loaning Vodafone $850 million, $750 million of which will be spent on BlackBerry products and services.

 

BlackBerry 10, their latest phone operating system, has continued to receive improvements, since its launch in early 2013. It has the ability to run Android apps. With the release of the Passport last month, the Amazon App Store is now included on BB phones running the latest version of BB10.

 

They also have a strong enterprise platform. BES 12, known as BlackBerry Enterprise Server, allows companies to manage smartphones (among other things), whether company-owned or bring-your-own-device. Supported platforms include iOS, Android, Windows Phone 8, BlackBerry 10, and BlackBerry 7.

 

The launch of the Classic is intended to get BBOS 7/Bold 9900 holdouts to upgrade to the OS 10. There are rumors that a revised all-touch phone will be released next year.

 

Instead of trying to be everything to everyone, BlackBerry is focusing on security, the thing they do better than anyone else; and the enterprise, their biggest customer. The consumer market is ridiculously competitive. After a slow start to BB10 last year, they realized it didn't make sense to try to out-Apple Apple or out-Android Google. That mistake costed Thorsten Heins, the previous CEO, his job, but the company is stronger after learning that lesson.

 

I can go on, but the bottom line is that BlackBerry is in a much better position than they were two or three years ago.

[joshnys8913]

Well what I mean by that is they are still at the bottom (remember when BB was #1), in respective to Android and ios, I guess I didnt make my statement clear, sorry. I think Windows is even JUST above BB (not by much though). 

[BlackBerryRulez]

Oooohh, thanks for the clarification. Yeah in terms of market share, they're at the bottom. But, that could change within the next few years. At least I hope.

[MacinJosh]

Oooohh, thanks for the clarification. Yeah in terms of market share, they're at the bottom. But, that could change within the next few years. At least I hope.

 

Unfortunately, I don't see them getting to the levels they used to be at. Mostly for use in enterprise and government, but not really in the public sector.

[BlackBerryRulez]

Unfortunately, I don't see them getting to the levels they used to be at. Mostly for use in enterprise and government, but not really in the public sector.

 

Yeah, I don't think iOS or Android are going away anytime soon. But I do think BlackBerry can carve out their niche of enterprise/gov users and devoted followers ("fanboys"). And maybe pick up a few other people on the side.

[BlackBerryRulez]

Was disappointed to find out today that Sprint wasn't announced as one of the carriers for the Classic.

 

I love the Q10… but Sprint really needs a tri-band/Spark-capable BlackBerry. Is there anyone at Sprint that I can contact about this?

 

I'm already going to tweet to Sprint Care. Got any other ideas?

 

Thanks

 

Sent from my Moto X XT1056

[COZisBack]

Was disappointed to find out today that Sprint wasn't announced as one of the carriers for the Classic.

 

I love the Q10… but Sprint really needs a tri-band/Spark-capable BlackBerry. Is there anyone at Sprint that I can contact about this?

 

I'm already going to tweet to Sprint Care. Got any other ideas?

 

Thanks

 

Sent from my Moto X XT1056

 

The U.S. demand for Blackberry on CDMA/LTE carriers has to rise extensively for that to happen. It's just not there anymore. Sprint can't afford a device that will only have slight demand. They're looking for either really cheap devices or flagship devices.

 

Edit: To make a point, here are two valid quotes from The Verge

 

The Classic has a square, 720 x 720 pixel, 3.5-inch touchscreen perched above the keyboard and navigation keys. It's a bit smaller than the 4.5-inch screen on the Passport, and much smaller than the average smartphone's display, but it makes it possible to use the Classic in one hand and still have the physical QWERTY keyboard. The phone is powered by an aging dual-core Qualcomm processor from 2012 paired with 2GB of RAM. That likely won't cut it for modern mobile gaming, but it should be fine for plowing through thousands of emails a day, which is what BlackBerry expects Classic users to do. There's an 8-megapixel camera on the back of the phone, with a 2-megapixel unit on the front.

 

............................

 

Appropriately, BlackBerry announced the Classic in the heart of New York's Financial District, an area of the country where BlackBerry smartphones are still a fairly common sight.  Perhaps even more so than the Passport, the Classic isn't a device that's going to appeal to the mainstream smartphone consumer, but rather it's for people who like BlackBerry devices and aren't looking to browse the web or play a lot of games on their phones. BlackBerry hasn't been on the minds of consumers for years, so now the company is doubling down on its core business users, and the Classic looks like the strongest play for that field yet.

 

[cdk]

Was disappointed to find out today that Sprint wasn't announced as one of the carriers for the Classic.

 

I love the Q10… but Sprint really needs a tri-band/Spark-capable BlackBerry. Is there anyone at Sprint that I can contact about this?

 

I'm already going to tweet to Sprint Care. Got any other ideas?

 

Blackberry's website seems to hint that a version could (will) be released for Verizon,Sprint, and/or USCC at some point in the future. Letting Sprint Care know that you would like it can't hurt. You could also tweet Marcelo as well...

[maxsilver]

The U.S. demand for Blackberry on CDMA/LTE carriers has to rise extensively for that to happen. It's just not there anymore. Sprint can't afford a device that will only have slight demand. They're looking for either really cheap devices or flagship devices.

 

Sprint releases plenty of devices that are essentially guaranteed to never sell well. They can definitely afford to host one device that will only have slight demand.

 

If nothing else, they can simply replace the Q10 with this, and it won't otherwise effect their lineup in any way.

 

Although I wish they would jump on the Passport instead. Definitely the better device, its a shame it only released for AT&T.

[BlackBerryRulez]

Good point. The Classic isn't quite a flagship device. It doesn't have the latest specs. But like the article says, the specs are fine for what it's going to be used for. The Q10 has similar, if not a bit lesser, specs. It performed fine for any video or game playing I did.

 

However, I feel like part of the reason that there is low BlackBerry demand in the US consumer market is that most carriers are unwilling to promote it. If you look at how much time and money they've spent promoting Samsung and Apple, BlackBerry doesn't compare. Even when BB10 was released last year, it was a sideshow on all of the carriers' websites and stores, compared to the iPhone and Galaxies.

 

When I went into the Verizon store in December 2012 to get an upgrade, I was looking at the Bold 9930 and Lumia 822. One of the reps there asked me, "Why would you want a BlackBerry?", in a puzzled tone.

 

When I went back earlier this year to look at upgrades (before I switched to Sprint), the rep I talked to this time hadn't even noticed that they replaced the Z10 with the Z30. For one of the "BB-friendly" carriers, even Verizon doesn't do a good job promoting them.

 

Sprint was months late to getting a BB10 device. And they pulled the Q10 from stores soon not even six months after they put it there. Then they promised the Z30, BB's flagship, and they didn't deliver.

 

At five different Sprint stores in my area, none of them had the Q10 in April of this year. The Sprint reps were even more unknowledgeable about BB. The corporate store/repair center even got rid of their BlackBerry tools and diagnostic equipment. I found that out when I had problems with the replacement Asurion/Sprint Certified Pre Owned sent me.

 

The bottom line is you're not going to get good sales if you don't try.

 

I did pick up on that hint. I'm hoping it actually happens. I'll tweet to both of them.

 

I agree with you, maxsilver. Picking up the Classic would help increase sales slightly. It would have been nice if they picked up the Passport..

 

Sent from my Moto X XT1056

[COZisBack]

Sprint releases plenty of devices that are essentially guaranteed to never sell well. They can definitely afford to host one device that will only have slight demand.

 

If nothing else, they can simply replace the Q10 with this, and it won't otherwise effect their lineup in any way.

 

Although I wish they would jump on the Passport instead. Definitely the better device, its a shame it only released for AT&T.

 

We'll surely have to wait and see. They do have the option to pick up later, but I'm thinking they won't.

[cdk]

Yeah, I don't think iOS or Android are going away anytime soon. But I do think BlackBerry can carve out their niche of enterprise/gov users and devoted followers ("fanboys"). And maybe pick up a few other people on the side.

 

I would agree.

 

I would add it might be a good idea for a carrier looking to grow it market share of enterprise and government subscribers to have some BB devices in their lineup. Heck as an individual I might even get one to try it out.

[BlackBerryRulez]

It's done. I tweeted to Sprint Care, BlackBerry Help, and Marcelo Claure. We'll see what they say, if anything.

[kg4icg]

Don't forget, T-Mobile doesn't support BlackBerry, they burned that bridge, so only way for T-Mobile customers to have a BlackBerry is to have a unlocked version which means no Wi-Fi calling, no special lte bands. Look at it this way, Sprint is starting to get Lumia's and there is still a good portion of Sprints customers that need BlackBerry for work related stuff, don't count it out yet.

[BlackBerryRulez]

Yeah.. I don't know why T-Mobile did that. Are they too good for BlackBerry? I don't know..

 

Yeah, that's true. I'll just have to be patient. Maybe they're waiting for their Q10 stock to get low. BlackBerry Help got back to me. They said devices for Sprint will be announced at a later date. Haven't heard back from Mr. Claure or Sprint Care. But I tweeted Sprint Care about this about three weeks ago.

 

Sent from my Moto X XT1056