BlackBerry Priv, the first Android powered device by the company, is witnessing slow sales volumes globally, with only 600,000 units sold in Q4 2015, as against a company projection of 850,000 units. The BlackBerry Priv, which was first made available in India at a price tag of a whopping Rs 62,990, has even seen a major price drop since its launch in January 2016. The Priv now costs anywhere between Rs. 48,949 (Amazon.in) – Rs. 55,489 (Flipkart) in India.
But, the smartphone’s high price tag, accompanied by the not-so-popular BB features, was what contributed to its global sales slump. An anonymous AT&T executive told CNET that mostly loyal BlackBerry users bought the Priv and could not adjust to its Android operating system. This led to a lot of users returning the device to the carrier. The AT&T executive added, “The BlackBerry Priv is really struggling.”
It is also a strong possibility that BlackBerry will be launching 2 more Android BB smartphones this year. In an Interview with The National, BB CEO John Chen confirmed that two mid-range Android smartphones will launch this year. Although Chen did not splurge many details about the devices, he said that one of the smartphones will have a physical keyboard, while the other will be an all-touchscreen device.