I love the Blackberry device and I have always had one since I launched it on the Celtel/Zain (now Airtel Nigeria) network in my hey days as the Head of Product Innovation and Research in 2006/7.
I was one of the Blackberry loyalists who couldn’t understand why Blackberry removed the physical keyboard in the BB Z10. It was a miss for me. It also took me time to move from my BB 9930 when Blackberry decided to do away with the Back button, Optical Navigator, Call Buttons and Menu button in the Q10.
I am a loyalist and I currently use the Blackberry Passport. I got it as a Christmas gift and I loved it. The Innovation Village review and unboxing further endeared me to this piece of equipment.
As much as I am a loyalist, I know we have been losing the battle to Android based smartphones. So I was happy when I heard of the Blackberry Priv. I believed that Blackberry, knowing that Nigeria is one of the last bastions for the brand, would immediately make it available in Nigeria. I guess Blackberry didn’t think so.
When the first video of the Blackberry Priv was released in October 2015 , I said to myself, very soon. Alas, it was not to be. In January, it was launched in The Netherlands, Italy, and Spain, France, and India, Nigeria was not included.
I wondered why it was taking too long for Blackberry to officially launch the Priv in Nigeria. I didn’t want to go to the grey market to get one.
I had to wait till February 13 2015 for it to officially land in Nigeria. Lo and behold, it was just an obscure post to merely state that
“Today we are expanding our reach with the launch of PRIV in Nigeria. For the special price of ₦$220,000.00 you can pick up yours this weekend at SLOT and participating retail outlets.”
This is truly not what I expect from Blackberry. As for me, it is as if you don’t believe in the product. No fanfare, no calling of bloggers to a launch, no phones for review.
I do believe in this product and with the reviews online, I think it deserves more than just a mention. I also do believe that Nigeria is one of Blackberry’s important markets; at least Matthew Talbot, Senior Vice President – Emerging Solutions at BlackBerry seems to think so.
Blackberry, let’s do more than just this whisper. Over to you.
