08/17/2008, 12:05pm, EDT
Sunday, August 17thCanada Bold pricing avoids iPhone rivalry
Rogers Wireless' pricing for the BlackBerry Bold all but rules out the device as a competitor for the iPhone 3G in Canada, if a company flyer proves true. The carrier is allegedly pricing the first HSDPA-capable BlackBerry at $400 with a three-year contract, more than $100 above the price for a 16GB iPhone despite holding just 1GB of internal memory and otherwise similar hardware. This cost at present would primarily differentiate the Bold from the 8820, which sells through the provider for $350.
It's unclear whether the price will be representative of pricing in the US and elsewhere, and may not remain a long-term cost for the phone. Nokia and Rogers recently felt compelled to halve the N95 8GB's price from its own $400 starting cost just a week after the iPhone 3G was introduced to Canada, although this device is more directly targeted at the same media-friendly audience as Apple's handset.
Rogers itself noted that the iPhone has significantly altered the bias of its phone mix. Sales for many of the carrier's phones drew to a halt almost immediately after the iPhone 3G announcement and remained low-key until the device was launched in the country.
Filed under: iPhone, industry, mobile phones
Other story tags: iPhone 3G, Nokia, BlackBerry, Research in Motion
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Bah
My brother has a Bold and it is just a piece of crap! Maybe I'm used to my ipod touch, but the interface is very tedious and not intuitive at all. Menus upon menus of settings, and two browsers that you need to switch between based on wifi/3G and sites crashing or not.
I've also heard that the BB Thunder may not come out if they can't get the vibration feedback working correctly. (localized vibrations so I've heard).
Pricing
I won't believe the pricing until the device is officially launched by Rogers. My guess is that they will drop the pricing at launch for $299.99 with a data plan on a 3 year term so as to stay competitive with the iPhone 3G. This would most likely cause the RIM BB 8310 to drop to $149.99 and the RIM BB 8820 to $199.99. Everything is speculation until Rogers releases it. I'm not one to fall for these rumors as it's easy to photoshop something like the advertisement seen in the link.
LOL
Why would ANYONE want anything but an iPhone? The iPhone is a freaking COMPUTER...what kind of idiot would wanna buy a regular phone!
Blackberry vs IPhone
I'm still more inclined toward the Blackberry Pearl and Curve. I love the idea of the I Phone but service is still a challenge where I live.
Umm.. maybe...
Somebody that wants a keyboard, decent battery life, a higher resolution screen, better email handling, mms messages, copy and paste, a more rugged phone, or doesn't want to buy into apple's PR?
Or perhaps they just want a company with a little more history in the business that can provide the stability that Mobile Me proved apple couldn't.