BlackBerry users running out of loyalty: 50 percent plan to defect to iPhone or Android
By Paul Miller 
posted August 2nd 2010 3:45PM
posted August 2nd 2010 3:45PM
posted August 2nd 2010 3:45PM
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And who could blame them?
@Son Of a Gun Although I'd see iOS as a lateral move at best.
@Son Of a Gun
Ya, Android Is more open, with its large application base. (Although please don't down-rank me. I know why people buy iPhones. Different target audience. Each have their uses.)
@Son Of a Gun
It would have been interesting to see the result of RIM buying Palm..
@Son Of a Gun
Considering how little blackberries do 42% actually isn't that bad.
@Son Of a Gun
Wait I'm confused.
Wasn't there a similar survey last quarter (or the one before) with similar results? Conversely, didn't Blackberry's sales increase over the last couple of quarters?
I just don't know what to think any more.
The big thing with BB's was the push email and messaging. "My business requires faster then fast yadda yadda yadda".
Pretty much all the major OS's provide email that's so fast it's just as fast as BB push anyways. I actually get email's on my phone faster then in my web client. (android 2.2).Messaging is ubiquitous across all platforms, and iOS and Android both cover all other forms of modern business communications, including Facebook and Twitter (spam all u like about how they suck, I agree, but you can't deny their penetration in todays business landscape).
@Son Of a Gun iOs is 100x better than blackberry except for the oh-so-important great email support, which I'm sure is better, but I don't personally understand what's so good about it, so I won't insult it, but you complain about dumb apple fanboy comments while you yourself make an ignorant one claiming that iPhones are equally as bad as blackberries? Wake up and stop being an idiot
@WUSS Not to say BB's don't support Facebook and Twitter and etc, but I'm just saying that iOS and Android provide more applications to integrate it more seamlessly into your day to day communications, such as contact integration and such.
@Son Of a Gun
Blackberry icons look like crap. They need to look more lifelike or something. I could buy them a copy of 3D Studio and Illustrator if they want it. They seriously need to totally revamp the look and feel of the icons which don't stand out at all and look plain.
@rhimbu
Only 42% of people will stay with their Blackberry's so thats about 60% percent of their customers leaving them. I think blackberry wont be on top again for a while. There going to have to make something outstanding. Easy to use, lots of developers making app, powerful OS and a few more things
@Son Of a Gun
Definitely going Android as soon as there's a good GSM/AWS device. Nexus One was on my radar for a long time but having used Blackberry devices for sometime, I hate trackballs worst than death itself, and couldn't bring myself to buy one.
Hoping for Nexus Two....
TL;DR version: Going Android, want 4+ inch screen.
@WUSS THAN THAN THAN not then... faster THAN. GAWSH
@That guy 2 how is ios better? I would shit my pants if a single apple fan boy could give one compelling reason why their phone is better aside from being pretty. Blackberries have better battery life, faster email delivery, and more customizable security policies. They also have more than one form factor in case people don't feel like all carrying the same phone like sheep. And while Apple may have the market cornered on fart apps, I still have yet for someone to explain why a PHONE THAT SUCKS AT MAKING CALLS is better than blackberry or Android. Feel free to enlighten me. Now an Android phone with built in navigation, voice based web and map searching, and speech to text... that to me is a compelling reason. So yeah ios is lateral at best... unless you would rather have something pretty that drops calls.
@That guy 2
Blackberries are cheaper. Most are less than half of an iPhone or a high end android phone. They don't realize that with the cost of data the $100 saved on the phone won't matter that much. But a lot of BB users are from businesses. My dad got his from his job
@rhimbu I left WebOS for Android and I couldn't be happier. I loved my WebOS but now that I have my EVO all I want is more Android.
@Son Of a Gun Honestly, I'm surprised that so many people have stuck around for so long. They're more than three years behind the competition (and I'm including OS 6 in there too).
@Son Of a Gun
BB will be just fine as long as Enterprise users are forced to only choose from BB devices. My company still won't let anything on the network that isn't made by RIM or running MS's mobile OS. Android and the iPhone get laughed at when requests come in.
That said, RIM really needs to step up. They got lazy and passed up. As more Enterprises open up to different platforms RIM will be toast. It won't be overnight but it will happen in the next few years.
@Son Of a Gun And who could blame them?
exactly what I was thinking, no big surprise here.
@DizWhiz
I also switched to the Evo from the pre, but all though the Evo's hardware is much better I'm not quite sold on android. I like the features like nav, voice inputs ect. I think that the UI of webOS is much better and hope that the features I like about android will get added to webOS. As soon as hpalm releases some Evo type hardware I will be getting it and giving the Evo to the wife. Everyone is different that's what's great about having options.
@LegoGuy23 I actually think iOS and Android have the same target audience for the most part. Which is average consumers. The people that see the two as really different are a very small % of potential consumers. Most people see "ok.. it has scrolling lists of icons, it has fun apps, it looks cool" as opposed to sheer lists of specs or buzz-word compliant features of the OS.
@Son Of a Gun I defected on Saturday. My EVO is running circles around my now-on-ebay 9700.
It was a good run, lil' guy. You were an email beast - but email isn't cutting it anymore.
I already bailed on BB a few months ago. I'm loving my new Incredible right now. It's at least 4 times faster, and much more robust with tons of apps that are usable.
@angelusp I have a suggestion. Learn the English language.
@ewing
To start with, RIM and Android have something in common: both are unsophisticated JAVA OS phones. Android's is simply based on a modified Dalvik interpreter so as not to pay up royalties to Sun. Their frameworks are poorly under-developed and poorly managed so while the entry barrier is slightly lower for developers (just have to know Java), the end result are more poorly functioning apps that may crash ad/or become unstable initially or over time. In fact, Android manages apps so poorly that the #1 most downloaded app is an app/process manager. On the Android side the prolem is far mote pronounced due to a couple of factors:
1) Poorly managed OS security. Apps can easily circumvent security measures and upload the user's data to remote servers stealthily. Also poor security measures allows App piracy to be rampant. Many Android devs complain that about 60% of their software install base is pirated and they are losing money as a result.
2) The Android Marketplace apps suffer from low quality. It is not very profitable for devs because Google built a shoddy business model for the Marketplace. Around 59 to 60% of developers are very dissatisfied with the money they are making with Android. This is keeping the best talent from coming in and/or defecting to the App Store where devs enjoy the most profitable mobile platform on Earth --thus attracting the best talent and producing the highest quality apps.
And lastly, two more things come into play here. One is Android's poor management of OS software update distribution. In that context, around 50% of Android phones are still using 1.5 and 1.6, meaning half the install base of Android phones are unable to use or take advantage of newer apps. And Google to this day still allows manufacturers to sell phones with 1.6 software. Customers that see ads on TV and go buy one of these phones get screwed. (Support from the vendor is quite limited too.) Secondly, to make matters worse Android hardware is farctionalized too, making it guesswork to know if the app that works in one phone may or may not work on another. (Screen size, OS version, hardware speed, memory, etc) So in reality the 70,000 Android apps aren't really 70,000. They are far less, depending on a long checklist of factors.
Android is simply the next Microsoft WinMo.
@WUSS LOL. BlackBerry integrated contact info from Facebook long before Android and iOS. And neither platform has the integration of BlackBerry, facebook messages and twitter direct messages appear in the main messages application - all pushed.
@Son Of a Gun Short this stock tomorrow. You will make a lot of money.
@Son Of a Gun
"Android is simply the next Microsoft WinMo."
Really? THat is a pretty bold statement...one that I highly doubt will turn out to be true. The pace of development and improvement of Android has been faster than any other OS out there...It is only going to get better and better by the month, and 2.2 is already very, very good.
@Son Of a Gun
blackberry is so last century. most people who have them thinks they got it because of the better keyboard, but truthfully, it's because blackberries are generally cheaper than iOS/Android devices.
iOS, Android = better user experience
Blackberry = just plain last century.
@Plazmic Flame
What about the Samsung Galaxy S? I got mine about 3 weeks now and I love it. Got the unlocked international version since I travel alot. the only qualm I have is some random lag which is about to be fixed since the test firmware is already leaked
@Plazmic Flame You really only need to use the trackball to make selections on your rooted phone. I almost never use the trackball for anything.
@Son Of a Gun It would help if they gave options on the phone style the OS is crap and always was, it was great when its competition was the RAZR now Oh oh. The big boys are in town!
@HighestRanked1
You are one of the most ignorant ass***** in these forums. What do YOU know about Dalvik? I've seen your other posts. Just another troll throwing codewords around pretending to know what the hell s/he is doing. Nobody's forcing you to use Android! Are you such a bitter queen because Android surpassed iPhone? I love Apple, but I would NEVER own an iPhone. So shut the f*** up and go back to your trailer trash.
@LegoGuy23
Stick to your guns - Android and iOS have the same target audience. Take the low rank for the greater good! Android FTW!
@HighestRanked1 You are such a stupid troll, Android is based on the Linux kernel and GNU software, not the same Java shit as Blackberry. The only way Android has Java involved with it is with third party apps.
@ewing Dropped calls blackberry fanboy? Not one. Yet for me on the iPhone nor a total loss of signal strength ( btw I live in Australia) I could name a hundred things that ios is better than blackberry os one being that it has no annoying trackball that is the worst experience on web browsing plus, ios is way more smoother and faster than any blackberry phone currently and don't start yapping about being an ignorant apple fanboy because I'm not even an apple fanboy I just use an iPhone and I also really admire the android os.
@Son Of a Gun I just jailbroke my old 3GS and gave it to my wife so she could ditch her BB Bold on T-Mobile. Add another to the statistic.
My iPhone is here on Wed, and the BB goes to a new owner on Friday
What made you downgrade?
@Son Of a Gun
Please lets not say stuff like that.... cause maybe he likes the iphone os, and you like the android os, plus there arent that many good android phones on att, so if you have stick to att why not just get the best phone there is on AT&T.
@Son Of a Gun
Hardly a downgrade.
It will sync with my Mac without telling me that it cannot access my address book and give me a knowledge base number that tells me nothing...
I can get all my music on the iPhone without having to spend $75 on an sd card.
I can see all the websites I want without out having to squint at a miniscule screen.
I can take nice pics and HD movies if I want.
I will admit that the BB mail server is great, but the device is just too limited for what I now want.
@colinfox same, getting my your sold asap.
My iPhone 4 is better in every respect. OS6 is about to come out, and it already looks old. It actually makes Windows Mobile 7 look good.....Yikes
@rmbrown09 tour***
@colinfox
And I get 6gb for $30/month with Bell, mind you I still have to add the voice package but still a great deal for that and the phone for $159.
@Son Of a Gun *Upgrade
@colinfox
Same! Already switched and lovin it!
@Son Of a Gun
I'm not sure why he switched, but I know why your ass got downranked.
I'm a long time Blackberry user and my Storm broke. Shortly after my friend let me have his Droid Incredible and I haven't looked back since. Don't get me wrong Blackberry's are great phones but, the competition is just offering so much more at this point....
@PlatinumSkeet
Who are you kidding that BlackBerrys are great phones? They're terrible. I'm partial to the iPhone but virtually anything is better than BB. I have to carry one for work and its next-to-useless.
@mpsmith
AMEN! My work BB (Bold9000) is collecting Dust at my desk. I only use it when i have to move equipment. Dont want to repeat cracking my iphone digitizer again..lol