BlackBerry Priv sales have been disappointing worldwide
BlackBerry was once the go-to manufacturer for professional mobile users, but times have changed now that iPhones and Android dominate the market. The Canadian company created the Priv Android smartphone in an act of desperation with a slide-out physical keyboard to distinguish itself from the competition.
The latest sales results, however, have been even lower than anticipated. According to the source, BlackBerry has sold only 600,000 units as of its latest fiscal fourth quarter ending February 2016 whereas analysts were expecting at least 850,000. A store manager for AT&T who wishes to remain anonymous has come forward to CNET and offered his view on the Priv:
"The BlackBerry Priv is really struggling. We've seen more returns than we would like."
It could be likely that those who bought the Priv were drawn in by the physical keyboard but ended up being unsatisfied or simply preferred touch-typing instead. Hardcore BlackBerry fans may have also been disappointed that the company abandoned its proprietary BlackBerry OS in favor of Android for this particular release. The launch price of the device was even higher than the starting price of the iPhone 6 to hurt sales even further.
BlackBerry CEO John Chen once stated in 2016 that the company may withdraw from the smartphone business if it makes no profit from the market. It remains to be seen how BlackBerry will approach a potential successor to the Priv, if at all.
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