5 ms·

Anyone got the inside info on why they are waiting so long to release these in America? Should have been available unlocked at launch if they really wanted to r

by tlack 14y ago

Anyone got the inside info on why they are waiting so long to release these in America? Should have been available unlocked at launch if they really wanted to regain the hearts and minds of the fickle American consumer.

arbitrage 14y ago
Is an unlocked phone really that important to the majority of American consumers? They've showed quite readily in the past that they really don't care that much.
- Dirlewanger 14y ago
  No. Majority would give you a blank stare if you mentioned a mobile phone being locked/unlocked.
  - illuminate 14y ago
    I think T-Mobile may help to change that.
- illuminate 14y ago
  "They've showed quite readily in the past that they really don't care that much." I don't think the telco lobbying interests reflect the consumer's opinion.
LilValleyBigEgo 14y ago
In the US, consumers buy scarcity. They want to have the thing that no one else in the US has. They want whatever they aren't allowed to have. So smart companies release their products in every other country first, then they save their US release for last. The longer they torture US consumers with not having the product everyone else has the higher their initial sales when they finally drop the product. Smart companies also create artificial scarcity by releasing their product in waves. If Americans think they might not be able to get the product because it will be sold out tomorrow they'll buy it today instead of waiting.
scrabble 14y ago
The original idea was to use the rest of the world as a testing ground to work out any potential bugs in the software prior to releasing in the US. It could be even worse to release in the US with a critical bug than to release later.
- purephase 14y ago
  That's just silly and so US-centric it's laughable (as is the parent). It's not BlackBerry that is causing the delay, the US carrier device testing/acceptance is the stumbling block. If it was up to BlackBerry they would be available now.
  - scrabble 14y ago
    As someone who used to work for BlackBerry, this was always the stated direction for BB10. Whether or not that's changed in the last few months, I can't say, but while I was there the intention was always to release in the US last to work the kinks out.
    - sjwright 14y ago
      Hello, this is the rest of the world. We don't want your buggy untested crap.
      - 3pt14159 14y ago
        I'm in Canada, I'd rather have buggy untested crap than to wait for years for a vendor to bring it to Canada.
      - songgao 14y ago
        It's not about bugs. I believe it's more for testing the market, and helping learn about how people would react to the product. Microsoft sometimes release products in New Zealand earlier than the rest of the world, because New Zealand is small, and unlike european countries that are closely connected to each other, it's relatively independent to the rest of the world, which makes it a good place to pilot test products. My friend there is pretty happy for always being able to try newest products. It really can be a good thing. You get to hand on it first. And if BB find it going well in the rest of the world, they'll probably raise the price when releasing it in the US.

by tlack 14y ago

arbitrage 14y ago

Is an unlocked phone really that important to the majority of American consumers? They've showed quite readily in the past that they really don't care that much.

Dirlewanger 14y ago
No. Majority would give you a blank stare if you mentioned a mobile phone being locked/unlocked.
- illuminate 14y ago
  I think T-Mobile may help to change that.
illuminate 14y ago
"They've showed quite readily in the past that they really don't care that much." I don't think the telco lobbying interests reflect the consumer's opinion.

LilValleyBigEgo 14y ago

In the US, consumers buy scarcity. They want to have the thing that no one else in the US has. They want whatever they aren't allowed to have. So smart companies release their products in every other country first, then they save their US release for last. The longer they torture US consumers with not having the product everyone else has the higher their initial sales when they finally drop the product. Smart companies also create artificial scarcity by releasing their product in waves. If Americans think they might not be able to get the product because it will be sold out tomorrow they'll buy it today instead of waiting.

scrabble 14y ago

The original idea was to use the rest of the world as a testing ground to work out any potential bugs in the software prior to releasing in the US. It could be even worse to release in the US with a critical bug than to release later.

purephase 14y ago
That's just silly and so US-centric it's laughable (as is the parent). It's not BlackBerry that is causing the delay, the US carrier device testing/acceptance is the stumbling block. If it was up to BlackBerry they would be available now.
- scrabble 14y ago
  As someone who used to work for BlackBerry, this was always the stated direction for BB10. Whether or not that's changed in the last few months, I can't say, but while I was there the intention was always to release in the US last to work the kinks out.
  - sjwright 14y ago
    Hello, this is the rest of the world. We don't want your buggy untested crap.
    - 3pt14159 14y ago
      I'm in Canada, I'd rather have buggy untested crap than to wait for years for a vendor to bring it to Canada.
    - songgao 14y ago
      It's not about bugs. I believe it's more for testing the market, and helping learn about how people would react to the product. Microsoft sometimes release products in New Zealand earlier than the rest of the world, because New Zealand is small, and unlike european countries that are closely connected to each other, it's relatively independent to the rest of the world, which makes it a good place to pilot test products. My friend there is pretty happy for always being able to try newest products. It really can be a good thing. You get to hand on it first. And if BB find it going well in the rest of the world, they'll probably raise the price when releasing it in the US.