carrier love where is it

U.S. Carrier support for BlackBerry is pretty much dead at this point. You can walk into pretty much any carrier store in the U.S. and clearly see that there are no BlackBerry devices on display. Even with the launch of BlackBerry 10, most carriers in the United States with the exception of a few, refused to even truly acknowledge BlackBerry 10’s existence. With the release of the BlackBerry Z10 and followed by the release of the Q10, both of which came with the BlackBerry 10 Operating System, this still wasn’t enough to gain carrier support. 

What could have been the cause to this? What did BlackBerry refuse to do to warrant this lack of carrier support? Could it have been “The Storm?” Yeah, everyone remembers that so called debacle from what I have read. I personally never owned a BlackBerry Storm but from all the reviews and multiple people who remember that device, the information provided stated that it was pretty much a failure all around. Now with that said, I have also talked to plenty of people who said the Storm was actually a very decent phone and worked very well. Could the BlackBerry Storm have been a major player in why carries in the United States simply started to shy away from supporting any future BlackBerry devices? 

Just what was it that made U.S. Carriers refuse continue to promote BlackBerry devices? Some will argue that after the original iPhone dropped BlackBerry failed to properly identify this as a major threat which could have lead to the overall downfall which included the now lack of proper carrier support.

Now we must take a trip down memory lane for a second and understand just what BlackBerry was built for from the beginning. BlackBerry’s foundation was built on the fact that there was a true need for a mobile device that would ensure the overall productivity and communication for the business person in need. This necessity for a device lead to some amazing products and services by the BlackBerry over time. Pretty soon everyone from Wall Street to Beat Street wanted to have this exclusive BlackBerry device. Everyone wanted to feel and look like a professional business person, and with a BlackBerry you had that look. 

I doubt that BlackBerry’s overall intention was to target the regular consumer cell phone market. I think as time went by and the popularity for BlackBerry grew more and more people, including carriers, were demanding more from the consumer side of the fence which most likely lead BlackBerry down a path that it had really no intentions of going in the first place. Maybe at that point BlackBerry decided that it would be an added benefit to go ahead and ride the train that was created by the masses. I can totally understand how that move made since as you never want to leave opportunity on the table. 

Well we all know the story from here and what happened with the company. Long story short BlackBerry’s U.S. Market share steadily declined year after year and the lack of innovation and some would say just pure cockiness could be part of the blame for the overall decline of the once mighty giant. I mean the story is quite interesting if I must say and one day it will go down as one of the biggest falls in tech or maybe the greatest comeback ever seen. 

How much work today does BlackBerry have to do in order to get carriers like Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon back in the saddle in order to provide the carrier support in the U.S as it once had? With the most recent release of the BlackBerry Passport and the future releases of what they are calling the BlackBerry Classic, there is hope all around. 

There is one major thing that most of the media and bloggers fail to understand about BlackBerry today. BlackBerry today is what BlackBerry started out to be and in some aspects of the market is still a leader. BlackBerry today is now back to it’s roots, it’s back to providing a device for the professional enterprise driven person who can rely on a product that helps to just get things done. It took me a long time to realize the importance of the direction BlackBerry was heading as I was stuck thinking like everyone else, like a consumer. 

You have to look at this whole situation objectively and have a true understanding of the direction that BlackBerry is going. Yes I want overall carrier support and yes I want commercials and yes I want this and that but the fact of the matter is that BlackBerry is BlackBerry like it or not. I just happen to love it and will continue to support the products and services as long as I find them useful and beneficial to me personally and professionally. 

Will U.S. Carriers ever again provide a place for BlackBerry? We’ll, we shall see! Will history repeat itself and BlackBerry hits a home run with the Passport and upcoming devices? I wonder just what it will take in order to get some carrier support here in the United States or does it really matter? There are other options you know, just ask the 200,000 plus individuals that helped to have BlackBerry sell out of the Passport in the first 6 hours via Shop BlackBerry online and Amazon.com.

@BlackBerryHank