Eight new Blackberries are rolling out on various networks this late summer/fall. This is RIM’s attempt to come back from the abiss. Will they be succesful?
Blackberry fell to the number three position in the smartphone market for the quarter ended June 30 according to a recent Comscore report. Apple passed RIM/Blackberry for the fist quarter with 27% of the smartphone market and Google’s Android operating system now represents 40% of all smartphones. Blackberry slipped to 23% of smartphones.
But…Blackberry is releasing new Blackberry Bold (9900 & 9300), Torch (9850, 9860, 9810) and Curve (9350, 9360, 9370) models. The Torch will come in the current slider version and a touch only version that will try to go head to head with Apple and Android phones.
I don’t know if Blackberry will expand their audience with these phones but perhaps they can stem the loss of their audience. Their corporate users have iPhone/Android envy and Blackberry needs to give them a good excuse to stick with the brand.
The prices of the new phones are to be determined but you can certainly put a dent in the price by selling your old phone at SellYourCell.com. We are currently paying up to $150 for a used Blackberry. On average, we paid about $50 for each Blackberry we bought last month. That can put a nice dent in the cost of a new phone!