“BlackBerry Ltd Chief Executive John Chen fired a salvo at T-Mobile US Inc on Tuesday, calling ill-conceived a promotion run by the company that encourages customers using BlackBerry smartphones to upgrade to iPhones,” Euan Rocha reports for Reuters. “T-Mobile US, which is majority owned by Deutsche Telekom AG, sent out emails to some of its customers last week, pitching them free iPhone 5s and touting the promotion as a ‘great offer for BlackBerry customers.'”
“That sparked a brouhaha in social media forums after some of the telecom company’s loyal BlackBerry client base reacted angrily to the offer, which they perceived as a slight,” Rocha reports. “In a blog post on Tuesday, BlackBerry CEO Chen slammed the T-Mobile US offer as a ‘clearly inappropriate and ill-conceived marketing promotion’ and he thanked the BlackBerry user base for their loyalty to the company.'”
MacDailyNews Take: Ooh, Johnny fired a salvo! We want to fire some, too! Here’s one:
All the PR stunts Chen can concoct will not reincarnate his dead company.
“BlackBerry, a one-time pioneer in the smartphone industry, has been struggling in recent years to claw back market share lost to Apple Inc’s iPhone,” Rocha reports. “The Waterloo, Ontario-based company’s new line of BlackBerry 10 devices has so far failed to win back market share, and Chen is attempting to reshape the company and focus less on the handset segment, and more on the company’s services business.”
MacDailyNews Take: Boy, firing salvos is fun! Here’re some more:
“BlackBerry’s customer base.” What a joke:
“Beleaguered BlackBerry: Zero… point… zero.” – Dean Vernon Wormer
We just went looking for a BlackBerry “smartphone” on T-Mobile’s site. There is one beard of buttons (Blackberry Curve 9315) available for sale along with two other BlackBerry beards of buttons – refurbs only, natch – on the entire T-Mobile USA site.
Fact: T-Mobile USA barely carries BlackBerry (which isn’t at all surprising since BlackBerry barely carries BlackBerry).
T-Mobile carries iPhones, iPhone knockoffs, and whatever non-selling Windows Phones that Microsoft is currently paying them to display. BlackBerry is Dead Company Walking. On prostheses. With a walker. And a wheelchair with portable defib always close behind.
In case you haven’t noticed, Johnny (study the above pie chart really hard) amateur hour is over™.
T-Mobile USA, like all smart carriers, simply wants their customers to have the best experience available. Hence, they are running a clearly appropriate and well-conceived marketing promotion. Indeed, it’s a great offer for any poor soul who’s still stuck with a BlackBerry antiquity. T-Mobile are to be commended for doing so, regardless of the whining from an antique peddler and a handful of luddites who’ve anachronistically saddled themselves with outmoded dead-end wares.
It seems like they want to convert their last remaining BB users, so they can drop support. Having to maintain support and training for BB may cost more than it’s worth.
If they’re still selling BB’s on the site, that may not be the case, though.
I needed a new phone (in the Netherlands ) went shopping, Vodafone , KPN and some others; one said to me: You can buy u’r BB with us, but wherever you’re buying u’r BB. Do Not buy it it from T-Mobile, they don’t know shit about BB, their people is not trained for BB!
Awww, boo-hoo, poor babies.
An oldie but goodie slight.
Black… who?
Rimshot slight.
Pitiful that RIM thot any telco ever cared one wit about them in the first place.
And talk about whistling past the graveyard. Sheesh.
Another oldie but goodie slight.
It seems like they want to convert their last remaining BB users, so they can drop support. Having to maintain support and training for BB may cost more than it’s worth.
If they’re still selling BB’s on the site, that may not be the case, though.
The thinking man’s slight.
Blackberry, currently residing in the “Where are they now file”
X-files slight?
OH NO! T-Mobile might lose some of its 0% of Blackberry sales!! What will it do with that square foot of shelf space?!?
The snappy slight!
“Beleaguered BlackBerry: Zero… point… zero.” – Dean Vernon Wormer
Spit soda all over! You owe me a new keyboard, MDN!
The slapstick slight.
“Fact: T-Mobile USA barely carries BlackBerry (which isn’t at all surprising since BlackBerry barely carries BlackBerry).” – MacDailyNews
The zinger slight.
Punish ’em, Johnny! Tell T-Mobile to shove it and stop shipping new models to them. Oh. You already did that…
The sad realization slight.
BlackBerry’s John Chen fired off 3 emails to its T-Mobile customers?
What did it say, you don’t deserve a special offer?
The inquisitive slight.
Third shoe? That’s so cool! 🙂
Well, those 14 folks just had those goodies all lined up.
MDN posters can be quite witty. 😛
CrackBerry’s boss Cracks me up with his stupidity 🙂
The alliterative slight.
How does 100 people in a social forum constitute a brouhaha. More like a peep.
I see your slight, and raise you 10.
MDN take is always funniest when it comes to CrackleBerry! Reminds me of the DELL days
Slight-tastic! 😛
All the government contracts for Blackberries were not renewed? That WAS their customer base!
Governments are not loyal to anyone but themselves.
No one ever got fired for buying IBM, er, I mean Microsoft, em, I mean Dell, no, I mean Blackberry . . .
LMAO Not an antique peddler!
Blackberry = wet scrotum on a windy winter day.
I needed a new phone (in the Netherlands ) went shopping, Vodafone , KPN and some others; one said to me: You can buy u’r BB with us, but wherever you’re buying u’r BB. Do Not buy it it from T-Mobile, they don’t know shit about BB, their people is not trained for BB!