http://www.pinoytechnoguide.com/2014/07/blackberry-passport-square-display.html
As you may have heard, Blackberry released its new smartphone, the Passport this past Wednesday. The Passport attempts to bring Blackberry relevance by emphasizing the differences between it and other comparable smartphones on the market. The Passports square shape, physical keyboard, and emphasis on email and messaging is made to appeal to what the company calls “power professionals”, people who are constantly working through heavy usage of messaging. Blackberry is aiming to hopefully win over half of the power professional market; a segment they estimate represents 7 to 8% of the total smartphone market. They are well on their way towards meeting this mark as the Passport’s initial order sold out within 10 hours of release and over 200,000 phones had been ordered by Friday. The Passport’s release however, has been greatly overshadowed by the release of the iPhone 6 earlier this month.
While the iPhone 6’s domination of headlines has diminished the Passport’s publicity, it may actually work to Blackberry’s advantage as initial reports of the iPhone 6 have highlighted flaws with the phone. For example, Apple is currently under fire with reports that the iPhone 6 bends while being carried in one’s pockets. This controversy trended on Twitter under the tags #bendgate and #bendghazi. Furthermore, Apple’s iOS 8 was released this past week and was quickly pulled as users reported a major software glitch left their phones unusable. As a result of the negative publicity, Apple is currently in a vulnerable position, which could be taken advantage of by Blackberry.
Works Cited
http://www.cnet.com/news/blackberry-ceo-200000-passports-ordered-since-launch/
http://www.cnet.com/news/blackberry-hopes-love-it-or-hate-it-passport-earns-it-a-second-chance/
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/24/iphone-6-plus-bend-pockets-complain
