Can the Blackberry 10 edge Windows Phone out of 3rd place?

[saintforlife]

Many people have already seen most of what BB10 is bringing to the table on Jan 30th (tons of videos on youtube). RIM is probably keeping a few features hidden till the launch date. But most of the things should be what has already been demoed.

Here's a simple question:

Does Blackberry 10 have what it takes to push MS out of 3rd place in the smartphone market?

 

[Liam Perry]

Easily. Blackberry has currently, and has always done messaging better than any other platform, Windows Phone inclusive.

Ever wondered why there's no AIM, Yahoo, MSN, Google Talk app for WP? They don't exist on Microsoft's platform. Blackberry comes with all of these services BUILT IN, along with Kik, BBM, Viber, WhatsApp etc. All with reliable notifications and apps that don't have to re-connect every time you start them up. You also don't have to use some wanky third party app that's half ass and only works half the time. This is a huge problem with Windows Phone.

Current blackberry devices have Google Maps. Which has latitude integration and, yep its still better than Nokia Maps. Can you type in the name of a local business on Nokia maps and get directions? For most places outside of cities, nope. Nokia has next to no business listings for their maps. The same goes for bing.

Blackberry has the app problem solved, They're launching with around 80,000 apps. That's awesome. It took WP two years to get to 120,000.
Blackberry has a super streamlined porting process that means android devs don't have to do much to port their games to BB10. They'll over take WP in no time.

So far RIM has been playing their cards right, they only have to sell around 8 million devices to get back into profitability. That's including their legacy devices which they're still launching and selling on carriers everywhere. They're launching super cheap curve devices on prepaid on networks all over the place. I picked up a Blackberry Curve for $140 and got a year of free Internet with it. I'm not complaining. WP still has very limited carrier reach.

It looks like with a lot of the niggling issues with the blackberry platform, they seem to have fixed. The new browser rocks, it doesn't take an hour to reboot, and it'll have WAY more apps. From a product perspective, it looks a lot more polished than WP does currently.

I wouldn't be surprised if RIM pushes WP back to 4th place.

This is coming from a long time Lumia lover.

 

[Mio_Ray]

Probably not, but I actually hope so. In an ideal world there would be 3 phone OS's: iOS, WP and BB. But that is not happening.....

I do hope though, whatever share they are going to take back, they will take from Android and not WP.

 

[crystal_planet]

There is a great deal of enthusiasm about BB10, as there should be. BB5/6/7 was antiquated to the point of ridicule, BB10 would have to be the biggest mess in the history of technology for it be called a failure compared to what came before. This isn't WP 7 to 8 or iOS 5 to 6, Android ICS to Jellybean.

This is more like DOS 5.0 to Windows 7. It sure as **** better be impressive.

Also BlackBerry has one huge advantage that WP doesn't have: mindshare. There are tonnes of ex-BB users on other platforms that would be waiting to go back home if the product was right - WP has never had that.

As to other switchers - it will be a dogfight like it always is. The fight will be for the ones bored or tired of their current phones, looking for something new and different.

 

[ny_yankees]

RIM offers Android developers up to $2,000 to port apps to BlackBerry 10 this weekend

RIM offers Android developers up to $2,000 to port apps to BlackBerry 10 this weekend - Yahoo! News

Looks like they are already going out full force. Unlike Microsoft who won't even bother making a new Xbox live game and too busy sending their top apps to IOS and Android

 

[rockstarzzz]

I really hope so. Because WP8 is going nowhere with this half hearted effort from Microsoft. I would hate to go back to Android and will pay Apple over my dead body. So if RIM can actually bring a refreshing range of handsets, features, hardware with the same secure, reliable and fast communication suite, at least there is a back up phone to fall over on!

 

[irvin792]

RIM offers Android developers up to $2,000 to port apps to BlackBerry 10 this weekend

RIM offers Android developers up to $2,000 to port apps to BlackBerry 10 this weekend - Yahoo! News

Looks like they are already going out full force. Unlike Microsoft who won't even bother making a new Xbox live game and too busy sending their top apps to IOS and Android

yea all this is really making me start to double guess myself for the first time since adopting WP back in 2011 :/

But I am in love with nokia

 

[Residing]

I'm confused - isn't the current Blackberry user based around 80 million, collectively? Does Windows Phone (all iterations) have more than 80 million users? If not, then Blackberry is already third, and the question becomes will they retain their position at third.

 

[masterchief1984]

I hope this lights a fire under Microsoft asses, cuz this is what they should've been doing from the beginning. We need more popular apps and a notification center.

 

[masterchief1984]

I'm confused - isn't the current Blackberry user based around 80 million, collectively? Does Windows Phone (all iterations) have more than 80 million users? If not, then Blackberry is already third, and the question becomes will they retain their position at third.

the reason I believe they say windows is third in the market share is due to consumer use, whereas blackberry is mainly used business wise.

 

[justmoe40]

has absolutely nothing to do with what it can or can not do. the question is whether one platform can succeed enough to take on current platforms. the answer is no. back when bb10 was originally announced ages ago it might have had a fighting chance but now is far too late. many of the governments and large corporations who traditionally used BB have dropped the platform for mostly IOS or android. this leaves mostly day to day users. currently none of the carriers have good plans for the use of BB mail. even if this were to change it would still not be as good as the other platforms who do not require anything special in a plan. even with ok sales RIM has no chance of surviving and this is just an attempt to make RIM worth buying.

this is about shareholders. do we sell now and take a loss or attempt to make something worth buying at a premium. even this is a long shot as was pretty obvious with the tablet.

 

[crystal_planet]

RIM offers Android developers up to $2,000 to port apps to BlackBerry 10 this weekend

RIM offers Android developers up to $2,000 to port apps to BlackBerry 10 this weekend - Yahoo! News

Looks like they are already going out full force. Unlike Microsoft who won't even bother making a new Xbox live game and too busy sending their top apps to IOS and Android

Which apps are being ported over with this program?

 

[Alex Kj]

Can BB10 do it? Maybe... Definitely "yes" if MS will continue derping around and wasting their $$$ on Windows 8's (desktop version) "fabulous!" features and its "Windows Store" instead of actively trying to attract mobile app developers by paying them directly for porting the apps in a proper way ;-) Right now the "120,000 apps!" store is largely filled with severely outdated and barely useful (due to lack of features) versions of apps ported from other platforms or garbage apps like several variations of CNN front page readers and such... In any case I hope BB will provide enough competition for MS to encourage MS to treat the mobile platform more seriously.

 

[jwinch2]

Can BB10 do it? Maybe... Definitely "yes" if MS will continue derping around and wasting their $$$ on Windows 8's (desktop version) "fabulous!" features and its "Windows Store" instead of actively trying to attract mobile app developers by paying them directly for porting the apps in a proper way ;-) Right now the "120,000 apps!" store is largely filled with severely outdated and barely useful (due to lack of features) versions of apps ported from other platforms or garbage apps like several variations of CNN front page readers and such... In any case I hope BB will provide enough competition for MS to encourage MS to treat the mobile platform more seriously.

Pretty accurate assessment in my view.

 

[cashcar1979]

Diehard WP fan, but BB10 is set to crush WP8. Microsoft's heart isn't into mobile devices at present...xbox music is a disaster, Skype sucks, no top tier device on Verizon or Sprint, no instagram, limited WP8 games, etc

 

[ryker002]

I really think it will. But that won't eliminate Wp8. I've seen multiple people switch to Windows Phone in the past week alone. Bb10 will be popular with the adults but in my opinion it won't grab the youths attention.
Sent from my Nokia Lumia 920 using Board Express

 

[johnh3]

In a global perspective they can not. Huawei just started with Windows Phone:
Ascend W1 - Huawei Device Co., Ltd..

Here in Sweden BlackBerry have been non existent, so BB 10 would not be any different. In many other countries to.
But I guess they have a good chance in USA and Canada.
We will see what happend.

 

[Jazmac]

I don't think Blackberry can do this on its own. Microsoft will need to help them to do that and with the speed at which Microsoft is bringing basics like cut/paste, multitasking and notification to its user base, a splashy, well placed ad will grab a lot of fence sitters, especially those on Sprint.

Blackberry would have to bring Notification, Instagram, Facebook/twitter integration and LTE. It'll be half way there and its quite possible Microsoft would feel BB breathing down its neck. If this new Blackberry is easily integrated on corporate BES servers, then oh yeah, the battle is on. Windows Phone 7, 7.5 or Windows Phone 8 cannot cannot be used with Mobile Iron. No api's for it. But Blackberry, IOS and Android can. How can they be so flatfooted on this?

One other thing, all those developers that MS courted all be heading back to what they know. Microsoft needs to quit treating this phone like they do their browser. Take some risks.
Moreover, if, I mean WHEN the Verge, Engadget, TechCrunch, ZDNet, Paul Thurrott and the usual haters of all things Windows Phone get about comparing the two platforms, singing BB praise as I know they will, WP might find itself in 4th place for a little while, again. Not like that all by itself will affect US but again, fence sitters and those without brand loyalty will be lost. More than anything WP needs NOTIFICATION center. A really good one. It also needs a better backup system. What we have now seems ill conceived. So in short, it could happen.

 

[tonyk79]

It will be down to government and corporate customers as blackberry is king for them. MS need to make inroads into this sector as apple are expensive and android isnt secure enough.

 

[WanderingTraveler]

Blackberry 10 can push Windows Phone out of third place if they do the following:
1. Get a phone with a physical keyboard out, fast. Why? Explain how those antiquated Curve phones sell. No, not just because of its price, but because of its keyboard. Sure, Nokia ended up competing with them anyway via the E-Series, and the Asha 200/205/303; but was that enough? I think not. RIM still has a stranglehold on the physical keyboard market.
2. Cheap phones. Yes, they are important. Explain how RIM still keeps selling phones. Price is the deciding factor for many.
3. Stay cool. Well, at least in the Philippines. Yes, they're still cool here. And Windows Phone is still associated with <censored word that means feces>. Mostly due to misconceptions that Blackberry phones are cheap luxury items, Android fans' smear tactics and BBM.
4. Apps. This is the number one complaint about Windows Phone. And, they're catching up.
5. BBM. Exclusive to Blackberry. Its popularity is evidenced by the installed user base of 79 million.