A late launch and buggy software are described as normal by Resesarch in Motion, but may have led the company to sell just half a million of its first touchscreen BlackBerry in the final weeks of 2008 — a fifth of what Apple's iPhone 3G reportedly achieved in the same quarter.
While its sales figures are deemed "promising," the smartphone missed more than half of the fall calendar quarter due to delays. Its results also purportedly pale in comparison to AT&T's for its flagship iPhone: although Apple in its latest quarterly report didn't break down iPhone 3G sales by region, the newspaper claims that AT&T will report selling about 2.4 million iPhones in the same period when its quarterly results are made public on Wednesday.
Moreover, the very mixed reception for the Storm is allegedly the byproduct of a launch strategy that put timing over quality. Sources for the Journal say that RIM and Verizon were so eager to launch the first touchscreen BlackBerry ahead of November 28th — also known as Black Friday and the biggest shopping day of the year — that the two started shipping units with glaring bugs that have included crashes, severe lag and other problems.
The early hiccups required a similarly rushed fix in December and are still being mended. RIM's co-CEO Jim Ballsillie notes that one upcoming patch will change the Storm's vertical keyboard from the prediction-heavy SureType format (also used on the BlackBerry Pearl) to a conventional QWERTY format like those on iPhones and a handful of other devices.
RIM and Verizon alike counter claims that the launch has been less than ideal. Balsillie doesn't divulge specific numbers but says that his Canada-based company is building about 250,000 Storms per week. He acknowledges that the software was flawed but that bugs in complex phones are the "new reality."
A Verizon spokesman in turn says that, despite claims to the contrary, return rates on the Storm are below 10 percent and that early results have "lived up to our expectations."
Even so, the build rates and customer acceptance are potentially sobering for the two firms, which paired up specifically to answer Apple's cellphone. At the height of its launch popularity during the summer, the iPhone 3G was rumored in production volumes as high as 800,000 per week, or more than three times RIM's present manufacturing rate.
RIM's current all-time high was in its September-to-November fiscal quarter, when it nearly topped Apple's iPhone 3G launch performance by shipping 6.7 million BlackBerries, albeit during a quarter in which the Storm had just a week on store shelves.
94 Comments
As bad as these numbers sound, after actually trying to use a Storm I believe they may be over-stated. It's hard to believe that 500,000 people bought one of these POS's in just under two months and less than 10 people took it back?
Also, even if sales are at 500,000 the channels would already be glutted with the things if the manufacturer was making 250,000 a week. Sounds kinda fishy all round to me.
Edit: just realised that "single digits" refers to percentage likely.
Edit 2: The sales period seems like only two solid weeks, so if manufacturers are making 250,00 a week, then all that's really happened here is that the two weeks worth of manufactured goods have moved to the stores. This doesn't necessarily mean they sold any.
A Verizon spokesman in turn says that, despite claims to the contrary, return rates on the Storm are below 10 percent and that early results have "lived up to our expectations."
What 9.9% returned?
I know one person personally who did.
Yeah, I'd be very interested to see just how many Storms have actually been activated, although if the outlook is as bad as it seems, I doubt RIM or Verizon are going to be very willing to give out that information.
Three person's I personally know, that bought the BBS, all returned within the 30 day period and bought the iPhone instead... the BBS has helped promote the iPhone.
One Verizon friend, is going to try the BBS for 30 days... if he doesn't like it, he's jumping ship to AT&T for the iphone.
One thing is for sure, AT&T really made out getting the iPhone exclusive... too bad Verizon told to take a hike.
Once the exclusive is over, RIM doesn't have a prayer.... most people I know are not holding out for RIM, rather, they are holding out for Verizon. If Verizon were smart, they should be contracting with right now for the next big thing.
What 9.9% returned?
I know one person personally who did.
Me too. I played around with it and the GUI is very slow and the click screen is counterintuitive.