All hopes were resting firmly on the new Z10 handset – and its QWERTY counterpart the Q10; excitement was brewing and Blackberry – formerly known as RIM – were confident that they could woo back their old, trusty customers.
But early signs suggest this just ain’t going to happen. Not only did they fall 12% after the UK launch, BlackBerry shares have fallen after a disappointing US launch as well, prompted by Goldman Sachs' decision to downgrade its financial rating from “buy” to “neutral”. The shares fell 9.4% to $14.64 in Friday’s trading, while on Monday they fell a further 4.6% to $14.23. Ouch.
But before this disappointing period, the stock climbed 36%, fuelled by optimism surrounding the new handsets and BB10 software. Chief Exec Thorsten Heins was out and about in the media last week, stoking excitement surrounding the launch; he even criticised Apple and went so far as to say that stocks of the new phones in Europe were running low (which was a bit of a porky, by the way). Something tells us he’s not feeling so buoyant this week.
As well as Goldman Sachs, Citigroup also downgraded BlackBerry after finding that less than 5% of shops in the US had sold out of the Z10, despite the fact that they only stocked just over a dozen handsets in the first place. It was also reported earlier this month that UK retailers were slashing the price of the handsets. Triple ouch.
In comparison (and just to make things a bit worse for dear old Blackberry) Apple sold out of the iPhone 5 in the majority of shops on its first day on sale, while Samsung struggled to meet the whopping great demand for the S3 smartphone. And the Carphone Warehouse has apparently received 5x more pre-orders for the freshly released S4 than it did with its already uber-successful older sibling, so things are looking great for Blackberry's main competitors. Quadruple ouch.
The Canadian company has seen its market share tumble to a quarter of what it once was in its heyday and Heins has spent the last year trying to sort out the company; cutting the workforce by 30%. And things just don’t look like they’re getting any better.
Poor old Blackberry. We’re not really sure why the handsets aren’t going down a storm. They’re not exactly ground-breaking but they’re good; they do the job and have some pretty nifty features as well. Here at OnRecycle we’re hoping Blackberry’s fortunes change.
If you’ve bought yourself a Z10 or Q10, or any other handset come to think of it, then don’t forget to recycle your old phone with us here. Not only is it good for the environment, but it’s also pretty good for your bank balance too.
