CrackBerry.com got there hands on sales information for the Rogers BlackBerry Bold and to make a long story short, the darn thing costs way too much.
The Rogers BlackBerry Bold will set you back $399 with a 3-year contract. Existing BlackBerry may be willing to pay this amount, however, new potential BlackBerry users that were debating between the BlackBerry Bold and the iPhone have a about 200 reasons why the should go with shouldn’t go with the BlackBerry Bold.
“200 reasons why they shouldn’t go with the BlackBerry Bold.”
If my company wouldn’t buy it for me I probably wouldn’t go for it either…
To be honest, nothing should be more expensive than any iPhone from a marketing perspective, despite which device is better.
I believe that the bar has been set at $299.99 max and $199 if you really want to sell anything.
Can I buy one from the US at $199 and then connect to Rogers?
No thanks I’ll take 2 iPhone 3G’s and have change left over.
BB’s are great, but RIM seems to be making a lot of marketing mistakes recently. They almost deserve to get their butts kicked by Apple.
Now in all fairness the Bold will almost surely be cheaper in the US from ATT.
But RIM should learn from Apple in how to handle a new release. In spite of whatever glitches, look at how well Apple handled the release of the new iPhone. With far greater initial demand, Apple announced a release date and met that date. Apple customers did not have to guess on the date, or worry about it being announced and then pushed back again and again.
They have handled unprecedented numbers of customers with most being very satisfied. They came out with a device at a price point that made people’s jaws drop in approval.
In short, Apple handled their launch in such a way as to write the textbook on new releases.
Different strokes for different folks. People buy their phones for very personal and different reasons. Though money is always one factor of the decision, it isn’t the only one. The market and people’s needs are diverse so there’s room for both devices. I’d love to see all these devices for $99…..
From what I understand it is not RIM’s fault that the Bold et al are being marketed poorly & having delivedry dates pushed back. Apple for, better or worse, has maintained nearly direct control of how the iPhone is handled (until very recently). Unfortunately RIM hasn’t exercised as direct control over their device as Apple.
AT&T is at fault here. Period. RIM has made the Bold availabe on a global scale and AT&T has sat on their hands.RIM made an exclusivity agreement with AT&T in good faith that the Bold would be given proper treatment.Instead of bringing their warehouses of Bolds to market they are allowing the smartphone market to saturate with iPhones deadening the impact of the Bold’s arrival. How many people outside of the BB blog community are aware that this phone is coming and is superior to the iPhone in some/many respects? RIM is not to be held guilty for “not reading the Apple release handbook”.
Instead, AT&T is writing the book on how to not treat a manufacturer & expectant(online?) public. THEY are *choosing* to delay the Bold’s release.
If anything, I hope RIM will not agree to exclusivity agreements with AT&T anymore after the blatant disrespect for their product. Maybe we can hope that RIM will take an “Apple-like” approach to product control and better dictate the terms of future exclusivity contracts (if any). Hopefully this will result in BBs arriving in their home & largest market of NA after a few test markets instead of, seemingly, dead last. (Non-GSM bb like the “thunder” don’t count either)
– Hoping that T-Mo will get first/equal shot @ future devices.(Where is the t-mo compatible 3G Bold anyway?)
JaggedXJ: While I agree with you that ATT most likely pushed the Bold back to clear the path for the iPhone, that does not explain or excuse the sky high price for the Bold on Rogers in Canada. Nor does that explain the other delays in releasing this device on other carriers, again, such as Rogers.
RIM has said in the past that it will basically allow the carriers to control the game, and will not seek the type of control that Apple has. And RIM will always favor ATT over TMo since ATT has over double the customers and coverage area of TMo.
What Robb and I have long argued is that RIM needs to compete better by releasing units like the Bold concurrently on Verizon…that is their real opening in the US market, esp. now that Verizon is acquiring AllTel and thus is leapfrogging ATT as the largest wireless carrier once again.
Sounds to me like Rogers is pulling one of those “let’s get them now while we can” deals where they get the audience that can’t resist and buy them up in the first week or so, then lower the pricing shortly after the initial rush is over. They may even pull in a few customers that run on AT&T because they can’t wait. May also have the high price tag for their corporate customers who’ve signed up for the new model, hit them with the initial pricing (then the discount), and once all major corporate sales are completed, drop the price. It’s an unfortunate possibility.
Then again…
My sympathies go out to all the Canadian users. The Bold just appeared in the UK – where you can get it free on a 12 month contract.
I just wanted to write and tell you that I think the bbs is WONDERFUL! I am loving it