Q10 Admired by Current and Former BlackBerry Users, Poll Shows

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As we await the Q10’s arrival in the US market, the question of how popular it will be is on everyone’s minds. The Z10, of course, met the needs of touchscreen lovers, but are there enough people who will like the Q10 to justify its existence and help keep BlackBerry afloat? Well, it looks like there’s reason to think so.

Recent polls on TechRepublic suggest two pieces of information about former and current BlackBerry users. First, among BlackBerry users, 76% say that the Q10 is enough to keep them loyal. And second, almost 2/3 of BlackBerry lovers who converted to Android or iPhone devices are tempted to switch back because of the Q10.

To me, it’s not perfectly clear what to make of these numbers. As pointed out on ZDNet, “[t]his is a self-selected poll so the numbers likely skew a little high for people interested in this topic.” While this is a self-selected poll, I’m not sure his conclusion is correct. I have certainly seen people – including former BB addicts – seemingly jump at the opportunity to knock BlackBerry, which could mean that the numbers are skewed toward people with negative passion for BlackBerry (which would mean that the Q10’s appeal is higher than is reflected in the numbers).

On the other hand, I’m not sure what the numbers really mean. We know about the user exodus from BlackBerry over the years. If we assume the poll numbers are accurate, is it actually good news that 76% of the loyal BB users who didn’t run away anticipate remaining loyal? I’m not so sure.

With regard to the other poll – the one that says 64% of people who left BB are tempted to switch back for the Q10 – I do think that it’s good news. Winning back customers is very important for BlackBerry and the fact that most of those who left are tempted to return has got to be a positive.

The fact is that these polls were far from scientific. It’s not clear to me what kind of biases they might reflect and what the real numbers are. But they seem to show that the Q10 has caught the eyes of many current and former BlackBerry users, and I guess we should call that good news.

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