We were being too humble while mentioning that BlackBerry Priv might not be as expensive as everyone is claiming it to be. While our guess was a price around Rs 55,000, BlackBerry surpassed our expectations by pricing it even higher.
Business-oriented users will not like this news, since the most awaited Android phone from BlackBerry has really shown them the path to failure.
The BlackBerry Priv is now available in India for an unexpectedly sky-high price of Rs 62,990. The smartphone is available on Amazon India and subsequently offline stores from today. The disappointment that comes with this news is huge and we can’t even understand why the Canadian handset maker has been doing this to itself time and again.
If you remember, BlackBerry started facing hardships from the time Android and iOS smartphones went on sale around the world, dominating the customer-friendly OS market with plenty of apps to divert your mind from a handful of BlackBerry’s applications.
There were speculations of possible acquisition of the company by Fairfax Financials, but then more recently Apple, Microsoft, Xiaomi and Lenovo came into picture to get a bite of the deteriorating fruit.
So, it is quite clear that things have not been good with the multinational and what would a person do in case of such a mishap? Try to make excellent phones, partner with rivals to create better OS and price them right so as to be sustainable for the next 2-3 years till profits can be made. But BlackBerry does not feel so, and every time a new phone comes out, it follows the same path of having older hardware, clumsy software and costing double that of competitors.
The last time BlackBerry wished to make a mark in the smartphone industry, they launched the BlackBerry Passport, which was an awkward looking square device priced at Rs 49,990, which failed to impress everyone apart from BlackBerry fans. The only good thing about BlackBerry was the QWERTY keyboard which was super efficient, and let’s be honest, they were the masters in making text-friendly phones.
BlackBerry Messenger was another service which was very famous in the younger generation and gained a lot of popularity until WhatsApp slammed the service with more features and cross-platform functionality.
The first Android smartphone to come from BlackBerry hasn’t met expectations clearly and with the financial condition of the company getting worse, it doesn’t make sense to price the phone so high. In case you’re not concerned about the cost, then the hybrid-keyboard smartphone will not disappoint because it has all the bells and whistles of a high-end smartphone.
If you’re planning to buy the smartphone, better wait another 2-3 months because the prices are going to fall as a result of low sales, which is not rocket science to predict.
Take a look at the Blackberry Priv’s specifications:
- 5.4-inch 1440×2560 pixels 2K HD AMOLED display
- Hybrid design with sliding QWERTY keyboard
- Curved edge screen with Gorilla Glass 4
- Dual-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A57 & quad-core 1.44 GHz Cortex-A53 with Adreno 418
- 3GB of RAM and 32GB ROM expandable upto 200GB with microSD card slot
- 18MP primary camera with Optical Image Stabilization and 2MP front camera
- WiFi, Bluetooth v4.1, GPS, NFC
- 3410 mAh Li-ion battery
Seriously, one need to ask…What was Blackberry thinking while pricing PRIV at Rs. 62,990/- Do they really think people are going to buy this phone? In my view the price should have been half of what it is or even lesser!!
Would love to know what do readers think?
Frank! Who are you? A BlackBerry marketing guy? And BTW I’m the TG BlackBerry is trying to target and even I can afford priv at a current price but I will still not buy it. Becoz I think the price is just not ridiculous but arrogant! Black berry need to Learn it’s lessons the hard way or perish.
Great article. I love Blackberry and am really disappointed with their pricing for India. It’s about 50% more than the US. They must think Indians are morons. And if we buy it at this price, they’re right.
I feel the doomsayers of BlackBerry is likened to the Fox that complained grapes are sour. I have been using Blackberry for over a decade. I accept that it is not a so called perfect phone which can handle quarter of a million apps on a fictitious ‘free OS” To be the worst thing that has happened to cell phone is Android . WE lost good, sensible and useful features of a phone. Those who have used NOKIA,ERICSON, Motorolla, Siemens etc in the pre android era would know how well operating systems on those phones worked. Now we have android spying on us 24×7. What do we want? For people like me who wants a phone to make calls, manage contacts, manage emails and other business workflows, what choice do we have other than BlackBerry? Have you guys tried sharing text messages, phone numbers etc on BlackBerry? Try and see how useful features are these? I have not see this on my erstwhile iPhone 5 and Zony experia Android.. Everything is so complicated on these phones. The whole phone screen is filled with app, questions and so on. Friends, we do not have time to play with all these apps. I have used iPhone, no chance I am going to use it for email. Physical keyboard makes one feel humane. On Indian roads, can anyone type something on the touch screen without getting frustrated? Technology must be viewed with the purpose it is created for. Android lovers can forever dream of BlackBerry giving them a cheap phone to compare and complain. That won’t happen. Blackberry is built for business and serious people. Yes, it is an addiction may be, but what is wrong if one get addicted to something that connects you with the world in a no nonsensical fashion? If you do not like blackberry do not use, but please do not say that it is a bad phone. In reality it is not.. We know that. I love my Passport. Awkward shape? What you mean by awkwardness? Passport is a universally acknowledged document sharing a common shape. How can this be awkward? What should be the shape of a phone? Rectangle? oval?
True. It’s not ur phone. U don’t understand what blackberry is. U called the passport an ugly looking square phone without even knowing how efficient it is. blackberry is the still the best phone which handles the emails and work unlike other ‘toy’ phones in the market. BB10 , still the best OS but only lacks the app ecosystem but still has most of the common day usable apps. Battery is unbelievable. Coming to the priv, this device secures an android OS which they couldn’t achieve till now. Who knows BlackBerry might secure ios and windows os also in future
My problem is not with Blackberry features or security… It is to do with pricing. No one doubts the quality of the phone and features… But at Rs. 63,000 they have lost an opportunity to grow their brand… Very very few people are going to buy BB Priv at that rate…and thats what we have hightlighted here