As far as devices go, I don’t think too many would argue that the BlackBerry Pearl was the biggest thing to happen to BlackBerry maker Research in Motion last year. There was no question that it was a big factor, along with the NTP settlement, in RIM’s stock price run up of over 100% last year.
When I think back on the BlackBerry Pearl, no one heard of it before the end of June. Remember when Boy Genius popped onto the scene with his leak of the BlackBerry Stealth? The BlackBerry Pearl was only the big thing for RIM in the second half of the year.
This makes me wonder if the BlackBerry 8800 will be the big thing for RIM in 2007 or if some other BlackBerry that hasn’t been leaked yet will be sales juggernaut for RIM.
What do you think?
That’s a good question Robb. RIM, supposedly, is going to heavily market the BlackBerry 8800 and since there will be multiple versions of it coming out at different times of the year my guess is that if it is not the biggest thing, it will be right up there.
I think alot of folks have been sitting on the sidelines on the Pearl knowing that a version of the 8800 was around the corner. Most of my IT staff like the Pearl, but hate Suretype. However, will the 8800 have the dramatic impact on the consumer that the Pearl has? That remains to be seen. The blackjack has definitely made some inroads on non-gadgety folks to be used as a phone. The 8800 needs to come in with a slim form factor, and it has to maintain the great battery and reliability of the older blackberries, and that could be tough especially if they wish to move the blackberries on the GSM side to 3G services.
I am planning to get a BlackBerry 8800 as soon as it comes out but I can see why RIM may not want to market it too much before it was available. I was all prepared to buy an 8700 but am postponing that purchase. I am sure that RIM would have rather me buy an 8700 last month instead of waiting for the 8800 possibly next.
I currently have a 8703e with sprint, and I have a friend with a pearl, but still own a ppc-6700 and I do miss my music , picture id and picture taken abilities. If the 8800 can provide those features I’ll be picking one up as soon as sprint can get it.
I think one of the biggest things will be any new device for Sprint. Talk about people waiting on the sidelines…….
While the Pearl is fantastic, the Suretype makes me want to throw the device through the window. In my opinion, the 8800 will be an extremely successful product, and I’m an Apple fanatic to boot.