It looks like Blackberry Torch 9800 sales haven’t set the world alight if estimates from US analysts are right. The touchscreen slider which many hoped would reignite RIM’s fortunes was never expected to match iPhone 4 sales but it seems it’s failed to compete with other contenders like the Droid X. So we wondered: if you could redesign the Blackberry Torch, how would you change it?
The Wall Street Journal reports estimates from analysts at Stifel Nicolaus and RBC which peg the opening Blackberry Torch 9800 sales at around 150,000. Apple’s iPhone 4 sales hit 1.7m in its first three days on the shelves while Global Equities Research estimated that the Droid X hit 300,000 sales in its launch weekend.
It’s not necessarily terrible news for the RIM. When the Blackberry Storm launched back in November 2008, early sales estimates suggested between 100,000 and 200,000 devices were snapped up. However, supply shortages then led to queues which made the device seem more in demand than the Blackberry Torch 9800.
During our Blackberry Touch 9800 hands on, we weren’t exactly bowled over by its looks. Placing the 3.5mm jack on the side of the phone was also a big black mark against the slider and the universal search smarts of the Blackberry 6 OS seemed wanting compared to webOS.
We were impressed with the new web browser when we played with the Blackberry Touch 9800 but it did recently take a licking from Windows Phone 7. And while we were taken with the slide-out QWERTY keyboard, the lack of a wow-factor didn’t leave us wanted to hightail it out of there with the Blackberry Torch 9800 in our back pocket.
From what you’ve seen of the Blackberry Torch 9800 so far, what features would you change to turn it into the ultimate emailer? What features should RIM have included? Hit the comments and let us know.
Out TBC | £TBC | RIM (via WSJ)
