![]() ![]() The presentation emphasized how everything just "flows" on BlackBerry 10. Users will likely spend much of their time in the BlackBerry Hub, which integrates social network notifications, BlackBerry Messages (BBM), and email. "Bringing an entirely new platform to the market took careful planning, and we knew that it was risky," Heins acknowledged. BlackBerry 10 - which will be available on the BlackBerry Z10 now and, by April or May, the keyboard-equipped Q10 - will supposedly offer one of the best multitasking and typing experiences on the market. To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email or phone 020 3353 3857. "We also saw limited advertising around the launch." "Our retail checks at over 20 store locations since 22 March, including at AT&T, Best Buy and RadioShack, revealed a surprising lack of marketing support and poor positioning of the product," she said in a report on Tuesday. Jankowski agreed with Heins that the US was "critical for BlackBerry's ultimate success," but said that initial sales at AT&T and Best Buy stores were "tepid". We've lost market share quite a bit, to put it mildly, and we absolutely need BlackBerry 10 to turn us around."īut after the first day of sales, Goldman Sachs analyst Simona Jankowski lowered her stock rating to neutral, saying research suggested "stores were receiving a range of five to 15 devices initially, but most sold less than 10 on opening day, and some as few as two or three". Thorsten Heins, BlackBerry's chief executive, admitted last week that success in the US, the world's second largest smartphone market after China, was essential: "You got to win here to win everywhere else," he told Reuters. ![]() Following last week's launch of the Z10 on the AT&T network, the largest in the US, BlackBerry shares fell by 8%, and then another 5% on Monday as analysts considered the outcome of its first weekend of sales. "We are bound by confidentiality with our partner and cannot disclose our partner's name," a spokesperson told the Guardian.Įarly reaction in carrier stores suggests that BlackBerry will have an uphill struggle restoring its position with consumers and carriers alike. "We reckon it will ship between 13m and 15m BB10 handsets in the fiscal year, compared to some of the bullish Wall Street estimates of 25m."īlackBerry declined to confirm whether the sale of 1m handsets was to Brightstar. ![]() On the broader outlook, "we're more negative than Wall Street," Gerber said. The company is due to announce its financial results for the period on Thursday. Gerber estimated that in the quarter to the beginning of March, during which the Z10 was on sale for a month, BlackBerry shipped between 300,000 and 500,000 handsets. "By handing that off to Brightstar, it suggests that they don't think it's a really hot product," Gerber said. As Brightstar rather than Verizon has the contract with BlackBerry, not Verizon, it assumes any risk from unsold inventory. Doing so, however, would also involve buying the phones in the expectation they would be sold. ![]() With a popular phone, Verizon would control demand from retailers and the allocation to them. "Normally, it would want to limit the channels the handsets were distributed to initially and really control that process." Gerber suggested Verizon's use of Brightstar was a negative sign: "We think Verizon isn't very confident this is going to be a very big-selling product," he said. Sales began on T-Mobile on Tuesday, while the smaller Sprint network has not announced any plans yet. The Z10 goes on sale from Verizon, the second-largest US carrier, on Thursday. Detwiler Fenton's managing director, Mark Gerber, told the Guardian that his research suggested that Brightstar will handle the distribution of BB10 handsets for the Verizon network to "big box" retailers and other retail outlets such as supermarkets.īlackBerry shares have lost 15% of their value since the launch in the US of its new Z10 touchscreen phone running BB10, as brokers Goldman Sachs called early sales to consumers on AT&T's network "tepid" and downgraded its stock rating to neutral. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |