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AT&T Sees No Net Gain from BlackBerry Torch Sales, Enterprises Considering Alternatives

By: , IntoMobile
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 at 3:58 PM
BlackBerry-9800-ATT5

Despite getting a break in India yesterday, RIM took a hit from investors. One analyst, James Faucette from Pacific Crest, asserted that AT&T saw no new net additions as a result of the BlackBerry Torch 9800 launch, while research from Sanford Bernstein claimed that 74% out of 200 companies surveyed in the U.K. and U.S. allowed devices other than BlackBerrys, which could be seen as bad news since enterprise has always been seen as RIM’s final bastion.

We already know Torch sales weren’t spectacular, but when overall BlackBerry sales on AT&T have been flat despite the new device means that Bold sales have just been cannibalized.  Analysts are hopeful that the Curve 3G 9300 will offer something for lower-tier customers, but I’m tempted to think that’s not going to happen, since the Curve 3G is an even smaller update to the Curve 8520 than the 9800 was to the Bold 9700.

As for enterprises being cool with supporting iPhone and Android in the workplace, I’d be curious what the historical data for this is like, and how much simply letting employees use something other than BlackBerry translates to people who take advantage of the flexibility. Tight Exchange support for multiple e-mail accounts in a familiar,  stable environment is a much more attractive proposition in a work setting, but for something that will occasionally operate as a personal phone, devices with nicer screens and more application options will no doubt have their pull.

Anyway, I’ve already made my case for why BlackBerry isn’t screwed, but the glumness of these numbers aren’t especially heartening.

[via Bloomberg, Barron's]

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About The Author

Simon Sage

Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.

  • ljp

    Let’s not forget that these are the opinions of analysts and not based on any real numbers. Pacific Crest isn’t privy to either AT&T or RIM’s numbers and Bernstein never details what type of support is offered. And I’d be wary of any company research that is coming out of an analyst firm that is maintaining a sell rating of the stock in question.

    Last year there were several analysts who claimed that channel checks were showing that the Palm Pre was making a serious dent in RIM’s sales. How true did that turn out to be?

    As you well know, there is much more to the enterprise market than getting Exchange support. While small businesses can get away with lower security and compliance standards, big business has standards that have to be met. Apple and Android can’t even secure their handsets from being jailbroken or rooted let alone offer an end-to-end encryption package.

  • http://www.intomobile.com Simon Sage

    If we still had our old commenting system, I would give this a +1. :)