TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Hernando Today

BlackBerry Storm Is Hitting Sales Averages

ADVERTISEMENT

By TONY HOLT

Hernando Today

Published: January 30, 2009

SPRING HILL - The reviews for Verizon's BlackBerry Storm have been as mixed as the results of the company's fourth-quarter sales figures.

Most of the company's financial difficulties have come from the landline side, but its normally reliable wireless division attracted fewer customers compared to a year earlier.

The news comes on the heels of the launch of the Storm, which industry analysts said was designed to compete with the massively popular Apple iPhone from rival AT&T. It has done little to boost the company's revenues.

Any suggestion the Storm was created to be an alternative to the iPhone or that it had failed to meet expectations was dismissed by Verizon regional spokesman Chuck Hamby.

"I certainly wouldn't call it a bumpy start," he said in response to a Wall Street Journal article published earlier this week. "It's doing great in Florida and especially in the Tampa region."

Verizon reportedly sought to release the device in October, but the launch took place barely in time for Black Friday.

Hamby refuted the media reports and said there were no plans to release it in October. New devices - particularly one that aims to break the mold like the Storm - are not launched until after it goes through the rigors of the company's "testing lab."

"It has to pass everything with flying colors or else we don't put it out," he said.

Verizon's newest 3G BlackBerry includes a click touch screen. Unlike smart phone touch screens, Storm users can actually hear the click whenever they press a button.

Salespeople have been warning users to be slow and methodical with it. Most BlackBerry owners, once they adapt to the device and its keyboard, tend to type quickly. The Storm is not designed for dexterity.

Users also must deliberately press with their index finger. The clicking sound lets them know it has accepted the command. The device usually doesn't respond to a fingernail tap.

While the screen is larger than most smart phones, it is still easy to press the wrong link with your fingertip.

Turning the device 90 degrees can make the screen go from vertical to horizontal, but customers have complained about the kinks with that feature. Sometimes the screen lags behind or doesn't move at all.

There are several locations in Hernando County that sell the Storm and it also can be purchased online. Verizon's corporate store in Circuit City will be open until mid-February, at which time it will be transferred elsewhere. The electronics retail chain is going out of business. The new corporate store location has not been announced.

Circuit City is the only place where a customer can demo a phone, but the store usually draws large crowds. That, coupled with the poor acoustics in the warehouse-style building, makes it nearly impossible for the customer to hear the clicks.

The three smaller Verizon stores - including the one along Commercial Way near the Target - sell an average of about five Storms per week.

"The high-resolution screen is amazing and the sound on it is amazing," said Hamby of the Storm. "It's like having a hi-definition TV in the palm of your hand."

The bigger, clearer screen (it offers 3.2 megapixel resolution) gives it an advantage over other camera phones, he said.

Verizon's marketing team has been working tirelessly to counter some of the scathing reviews published in most business and tech publications.

(One columnist from BusinessWeek wrote he had a colonoscopy and bought the Storm to start the year and suggested the colonoscopy was less stressful than navigating the Storm).

Even still, approximately 500,000 Storms were sold before Christmas and Verizon claims more than 1 million already have been sold since it was launched two months ago.

By comparison, more than 1 million iPhones were sold during its first weekend of release.

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or wholt@hernandotoday.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT