An AT&T Executive says that the phone is really struggling with more returns coming in
Once a
global smartphone market leader, BlackBerry’s demise is no longer a
secret. BlackbBerry OS smartphones sales started to decline, which
forced the company to focus towards Android phones. But now, an AT&T
Executive dropped another bombshell on the company, as he said that its
Android phone, BlackBerry Priv, is “really struggling.”
The news comes in from AT&T which is a longtime ally of the
Canadian smartphone manufacturer. BlackBerry was hoping that the
adaption of the new operating software (OS) along with its security
expertise would make the phone a hit. However, that’s not how things
turned out. According to the AT&T Executive, the company has seen
more returns than it had expected.
The higher rate of returns of Priv is mainly due to users’ failure to
adapt to the new OS, Android. According to the reports, most of the
buyers were loyal BlackBerry users who struggled to use Android on Priv,
and decided to return it. It was the first phone that had a different
OS and had high hopes attached to it.
But these high hopes are now being shattered after the company saw
the response from users. Another reason for the downfall of the phone
could be the price that BlackBerry had set for it. Priv, at the time of
its launch, was available for $699, exceeding the prices of Apple and
Samsung’s flagships. The iPhone 6s is available for $650 while Galaxy S7
can be bought for $670.
Both the phones are cheaper than Priv, which makes it even more
difficult for users to prefer it over the likes of Apple and Samsung.
Carrier companies are often thought to lend a helping hand to mobile
manufacturing companies to encourage their users to buy the phones. But
it looks like even AT&T can’t help BlackBerry increase its sales.
What’s Next for BlackBerry?
Last year, it was thought that BlackBerry may wind up its mobile
business if it failed to turn profitable. The company’s last bet was the
Priv, which has also failed to please the customers. Later, the company
said that it would make more smartphones that are powered by Android
OS. It plans to release two mid-range Android phones this year; one will
be a full touchscreen phone while the other will feature a keyboard.
It seems that BlackBerry has not given up on its mobile division as
yet. But the question here is whether these two phones will change the
game for the company? While the Priv failed to perform as expected,
these two mid-ranged phones might turn out to be magical for the
company. The reason is the low price which might encourage people to try
out the product.
A $700 phone might be a bit steep to
buy, but a phone in $300–400 range might be an ideal push for
BlackBerry to regain its lost glory in the mobile industry. The low-end
phones might turn out to be the need of the hour for the company, as
people might consider them due to the security that BlackBerry provides.
An increase in
sales of phones for the next two or three years could mark the return of
the company. It will give it leverage to play with other features and
different phones as well. The company has missed the sales target it had
set for the last quarter, as it sold just 600,000 phones as compared to
the estimate of 850,000. For now, it seems that Android can be the only
savior for the company.
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