Comments on: Sprint And Verizon Are Missing The Ship With Consumer Oriented BlackBerrys

By: Robb Dunewood

Robb Dunewood — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 14:30:19 +0000

I think that you are spot on Thought. I sometimes wonder if RIM realizes just how popular the BlackBerry is and how strong of a brand they have in the BlackBerry.

I would venture to say that even with the strength of Verizon’s network, they would loose massive share if RIM made an announcement that they were no longer going make devices for Verizon. There is no doubt that a few Verizon BlackBerry users would stop using the BlackBerry and switch to another device, however, that number would seem like a rounding error compared to the number of BlackBerry users that would leave Verizon for another carrier that still offered the BlackBerry.

RIM doesn’t have the clout of Apple, as you say, however, they have enough BlackBerry clout that they could force the carriers hands a bit more than they do.

By: Thought

Thought — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 22:04:20 +0000

Robb: I think RIM could have asked for more, but won’t and wouldn’t do that. Look at Balsillie’s comments regarding the Apple deal as being something of a danger to the cell phone companies, in leading to a commoditization of their service. That is exactly more of what should happen, with the service becoming more of a commodity for consumers. Instead, the devices become the commodity, and so I don’t quite why Balsillie would make that comment. Apple has reversed the equation: the device remains the big deal, and the service is the commodity. RIM and every other vendor should want it that way as well.

I realize that RIM may not have the clout of Apple, but they do have clout, given the significance of the BB platform in the enterprise sector. It’s a shame they haven’t used that clout to their advantage. I guess the carriers are so powerful that the vendors used to dealing with them just take their marching orders.

By: Robb Dunewood

Robb Dunewood — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 15:18:09 +0000

It is almost unbelievable to me that the Verizon and Sprint still don’t have camera phones. Just think about how long it has been since the first camera phone appeared on the scene. Granted, RIM was very, very late to the game with the BlackBerry Pearl. Look, however, at how well it and it’s fatter cousin, the BlackBerryCurve, have done since they’ve come out.

I know that Basillie doesn’t like the amount of control Apple has with AT&T, but, it seems to me that if RIM had a fraction of Apple’s clout, we would have seen CDMA CameraBerrys last year.

By: Thought

Thought — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:14:51 +0000

It gets even worse for Verizon. Some polling reported in the USA Today suggests that about 25% of iPhone buyers are switching from VZW; this makes sense, as VZW users are generally more affluent and thus likely to be attracted to and afford the iPhone. If 25% of new iPhone activations are from VZW, then the whole dynamics of the VZW vs AT&T race for customer supremacy has changed.

VZW will have to be satisfied with the ad slogan of best network, and not the carrier with the most customers.

By: Eric

Eric — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 18:55:42 +0000

This is nothing new. VZW and Sprint have missed the boat on new phones for years. Look at how long it took them to get a RAZR. I do not see this trend changing. I’ve been a Verizon customer for a while. I tried the iPhone, but returned it. The iPhone has a lot of great features, but the network is not one of them. People thought I sounded like I was in a tin can (same thing that people thought when I had a RAZR on Cingular’s network a few years ago). Also, I was in spots where my VZW Blackberry had four or five bars for reception and the iPhone had one. To me, the iPhone did not justify the cost. Full price and a two year committment. I was not willing to do that after using the device. Great phone, but for what I needed it was best for me to stick with a Blackberry and Verizon’s network.

By: Thought

Thought — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 18:56:47 +0000

If RIM and VZW had managed to get out a 3G CDMA Curve or Pearl 2 before the iPhone launch, then VZW may have managed to hold on to at least a few of the customers they lost to the iPhone.

VZW has been gaining net subscribers on AT&T for the last several quarters; the iPhone will reverse that trend. We may or may not see that in the Q2 reports: after all Q2 ended with only the first weekend of iPhone mania.

But look for the numbers in Q3 to show AT&T gaining more subscribers than VZW. Not only is AT&T gaining iPhone customers, undoubtedly some of them are bringing family and friends along.

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 16:30:16 +0000

Why is the obvious to everyone…… BUT Verizon???