In case you haven’t heard by now, AT&T and RIM have officially announced that the BlackBerry Bold will be released Tuesday after next on Nov. 4th.
As expected, the AT&T BlackBerry Bold will retail for $299 with a 2-year contract. This is 50% more than the iPhone. I don’t think that the Bold was really ever intended to compete with the iPhone but I would still like to know what you think about the $300 price tag?
i think att is trying to make up for all the money they have spent and lost on subsidizing the iphone and i think since the bold is aimed at executive market they priced it at the 299… i think a realistic price would of been 199 and have them flying off the shelves. but people will still buy.. credit cards will be a ringin… i couldnt wait so i have the rogers unlocked bold on att paid a cool 750 for lol… but had it for almost a few months now so.. works great.
It’s ridiculous. I’m now even more curious as to where the Storm’s launch-day price point will be set.
It just seems that RIM likes to somewhat overprice their products. The BlackBerry Pearl Flip phone is also prices higher than the iPhone which leads to the thought that the BlackBerry Storm could be sold at a very hight premium.
It just seems that RIM likes to somewhat overprice their products. The BlackBerry Pearl Flip phone is also prices higher than the iPhone which leads to the thought that the BlackBerry Storm could be sold at a very high premium.
I want to say they want to sell more iPhones than BB’s, but how would I know that for sure? The pricing on the Bold is a start. Way too much. Should be priced the same as the iPhone to have some competitive chance.
Well it’s priced 50% higher then the crapphone, and it’s 100% better then the crapphone so I think it’s priced accordingly….WoooooooHoooooo!!! Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!
Well, I decided to get a new curve. Too little too late for RIM and that price really has me saying ‘forget it’
At $299, I am liking my Curve more and more (especially because it is the TMO version and has WiFi and it works great for placing phone calls over WiFi). I’m not in a hurry to go back to AT&T.
The Bold is priced the same as the 16GB iPhone, both companies’ premium product. The difference is that AT&T wants to use iPhone to get customers to come to their network so they subsidize the HELL out of it (+/- $400). They know BB sells well, so they can subsidize less and still get lots of customers. AT&T needs to stop sucking Steve’s balls and realize the economics of the BB is far superior.
At that price, I’ll be holding onto my 8820 a bit longer…
I will hold on to my 8820 until the BB Storm comes out. I was going with the Bold because I’m an AT&T customer, but the BB Storm got so much advertisement that I will wait.
I’ve gotten over the Bold. No more interest – back in May though, I was drooling. Now I’m really wanting to see the Storm in person.
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Hey look at their stock, they really took a black eye on this one per the analyst. And this ws before the crash too. remember it looks like they are truly aiming this phone at the profesional, not the consumer. The iPhone was directed toward the consumer. BB is a niche company. They have there niche and are just trying to expand outside of it. trust me the Storm is a consumer phone, Although I could be wrong, but just slapping BB on a hpone doesn’t make it a profesional tool. AT&T is losing money on their iPhone sales because of their high subsidy. Maybe they did it full well knowing that BB was going to come in much higher, but that it was for a different market. The enterprise folks will probably absorb the cost for their employees, if this is the phone their company wants. I know my company is hooked up with AT&T, and when our company provides me with the Bold, it won’t cost me anything. Our curves are showing their age and they have talked about the replacement. Now if the market goes up again, maybe they will, but right now, I don’t know if they will go through with the change.
Was during, not before the market downturn regarding the stock price. Price is also tied into what Apple does due to sales, market share, etc. Notice Apple has taken a 50%+ plunge as well. RIM was 800,000 units below Apple in sales for last quarter, in which Apple released the 3G iPhone and RIM released zero new models. I think that tide will change in the next two quarters.
Love how those analysts leave out the obvious.
Also, the 800k unit gap is not a large margin at all, especially since Apple released the 3G iPhone that same quarter. 6.9 million to 6.1 million isn’t bad at all for RIM. If those numbers run the same the next 2 quarters, then RIM may have some issues due to the economic downturn. Corporate America feeds revenue into RIM.
At one time “Corporate America feeds revenue into RIM.” Now with the iPhone Corporate America feeds revenue into Apple for the iPhone, RIM has lost it’s main service provider and has lost the market.
800k isn’t a large margin? I’m sure that’s what RIM executives are telling themselves in order to maintain some sanity.
When the iPhone was announced, it was a joke to the likes of Microsoft, RIM, Palm
and Nokia. Big shots like Ed Colligan said there was no way Apple could just “walk right in.”
Now a little over a year after introducing their first smartphone, they’ve managed to outsell the entire BlackBerry line with ONE handset? If I predicted that on this site a month ago, I’d be mocked as a foolish Apple fanboy.
The notion that it’s acceptable because RIM didn’t have any “new product” is laughable at best. There isn’t carrier in the US who doesn’t have the BlackBerry vs. one for the iPhone. The availability footprint around the world dwarfs that of the iPhone. BlackBerry is comprised of numerous models including the Pearl that’s available for free. And it’s the cherished brand of enterprise customers who buy them up in bulk. You don’t think these advantages among others outweigh the newness of the iPhone 3G? An army of devices against one phone that, according to commenters here, is a worthless multimedia toy that can’t be typed on?
You’re going to need a better excuse than that, guys. Refine your material for future use.
…and 1 billion dollars is chump change too these days.
On Wall Street, no. 800k isn’t that big of a number. Especially since the number reflects the anticipated, upgraded iPhone vs. zero new releases on the BB side with the consumer market (and some corporate companies) waiting for the new releases such as the Bold and Storm. And yes, it is ‘acceptable’. If you listen to small time analysts from crap brokerage firms, you’re going to get a load of it. That’s why their still small. 🙂
PS – I’m a huge fan of Apple and love their product (MacBook Pro, iPod, iMac, etc., I use them all except the iPhone), but look at the technical reality. I worked 10 years on Wall Street, Goldman Sachs was one of them. You can knock RIM however you’d like, but Apple has had the same 50%+ drop as well. And I can also say that many of my clients in the IT world are looking to pull back from any iPhone testing or migrations that they’ve done due to feedback. It’s a great device, but more so to the consumer market. If they pulled out a keyboard and somehow enhanced the security to the level RIM has, they’d have the hands down number one device out there, with the great Apple name to boot. SAP, Oracle, etc. have and still are writing applications for both the BB and the iPhone. IBM has pushed heavily toward the BB. Application inheritance will play an important piece down the road for some companies as this sector grows, and I’m sure both companies will have a part in it.
Having got mine for free at a launch party i can clearly say i would not have paid 299 for the bold. while nice, not worth the upgrade from the curve. i will probably sell it and buy a storm…
Seems a bit high, esp with the economy the way it is.
I agree with an earlier comment…they are probably counting on execs and businesses who will spend whatever to get the latest and greatest.
However, in this economy, I don’t quite know that this assumption will be true.
I still think the way that this device launch was handled by ATT/RIM will really undercut its sales. But who knows…the holiday season is approaching, and this device is still pretty neat…
I hear you MacVicta as you can tell there are some here that just don’t get it, no matter how obvious the truth is, there always seems to be a excuse here to try to divert attention from the truth. The iPhone just continues to prove all the nay sayers wrong. Better watch out though you have posted something someone doesn’t like next you’ll see his childlike reaction and he’ll start calling you names.
I think the Bold has passed its time for ATT. It’s kind of ho hum now, esp with the Storm coming out.
It may be true that finally RIM is taking the advice offered on this blog: hitching their star more tightly to Verizon than ATT, esp now that VZW will be the largest carrier in the US. Robb and I, among others have always believed that RIM’s biggest opportunity was with VZW and its very loyal client base, and it’s reputation for network reliability.
We may be seeing ATT becoming an Apple shop, with VZW being a RIM BB shop. Only time will tell.
@ Thought,
As much as I’d like to agree, I can’t see RIM walking away from ‘any’ carrier (heck, they even sell through TMO here in the States). The corporate world goes by the service company, and then the phone in most cases. My previous employer was an AT&T shop…will always be one. If it means waiting on the Bold, then that’s what they’ll most likely do (they all use BB’s). RIM may save their ‘best’ release for VZW (like the Storm), but eventually it will get around. Pressure from the corporate side directly to RIM will open those doors eventually…
And though the iPhone is tied to AT&T right now…I wouldn’t be surprised if things change a few years down the road when VZW hits LTE. It’s going to be really interesting to see both AT&T and VZW on LTE.
@ Thought…
But yeah, I agree. All the hype for the Bold is practically gone. I think the climax of the hype was seeing John Mayer with a Bold for a test drive.
bhs: I agree with you: the most interesting competition will be when VZW and ATT are on the same LTE system…then it will be a totally fair fight.
Right now the only thing that limits VZW is the far greater prevalence of GSM worldwide, which limits handset selection for VZW.
Once that is gone, we’ll see how well ATT will hold up.