Blackberry Z10 Crashes and Burns (1 Viewer)

[mattCR]

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-new-blackberrys-launch-has-been-a-disaster-2013-3

Then Goldman Sachs reduced its investment rating on BlackBerry from “buy” to “neutral”, citing “disappointing” sales in the US and saying the Z10 had only a 20 per cent chance of success.
“While we thought the international launch was solid, the US launch is critical for BlackBerry’s ultimate success,” Goldman analyst Simona Jankowski wrote in a research note.
In Monday’s trading, BlackBerry shares fell a further 4.6 per cent to $14.23.
Citigroup also downgraded BlackBerry after finding that less than 5 per cent of shops in the US had sold out of the Z10, despite each only stocking around a dozen of the phones.

Turns out the sales are so minimal they can't move 10 or more in a store. OUCH.

 

[Hanson]

They should have followed the Nokia strategy of stocking 5 per store and declaring it a "sell out".

The lessons here are simple:

1) You have to launch on as many carriers simultaneously as you can. This is the key to Samsung's success in the US.
2) AT&T exclusivity is the kiss of death. Most people who walk into an AT&T store walk out with an iPhone. If they're getting something else, it's the S3.

Too bad -- I thought BB was going to solidify their number three status with the Z10. But in retrospect, the number one reason people still keep their BBs is the physical keyboard. Launching a touch screen model with an entirely new UI isn't going to engender customer loyalty. If you're going to do that, why not get an iPhone or Android? Most of the BB die hards I know are waiting for the keyboard model.