BlackBerry Z10 price slashed as US launch nears

By Rich Trenholm on 5 March 2013, 5:14pm

Before it so much as sets foot in US shops the price of the BlackBerry Z10 has been slashed -- just a month after it went on sale in the UK.

Carphone Warehouse and Vodafone have both trimmed the price of the Z10, the first smart phone to show off the new BlackBerry software. BlackBerry 10 is supposed to be the saviour of BlackBerry after Android and the iPhone elbowed the Canadian company out of the smart phone market it basically invented.

At Carphone Warehouse the Z10 now costs £30 and £30 per month on a two-year contract, knocking £6 a month off your bill -- that's £160 off your total outlay over the length of the contract.

And Vodafone is selling the Z10 for £33 per month online, knocking off more than £70 over the length of the contract.

BlackBerry bosses initially claimed that the Z10 was selling well, while giving no actual sales figures. The phone is expected to launch in the US this month, after it was advertised in this baffling fashion...

In more bad news for BlackBerry, online movie and streaming behemoth Netflix has dissed BB10, saying it has no plans to build an app for the nascent OS. Oh no you di'n't, Netflix! Netflix is still relatively new over here but is a huge deal in the US, and the availability of such high-profile apps can often be the dealbreaker. I only switched to Windows Phone when a Spotify app appeared in the Windows Phone marketplace.

Have you bagged a BlackBerry? Is the Z10 worth every penny? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.

Comments 16

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anonymous 5 March, 2013 18:57

My Z10 is fantastic - it's the ultimate communications device, which ultimately is why I have a phone, it has great games, and it looks modern - a 2013 experience with some great features to show off to my friends. Everyone one I've shown it to is impressed.

As for price cuts - It looks like Carphonewarehouse is cutting prices across the big 3 this week (iPhone5 and S3 as well) As for Netflix - watching movies on a phone is nice on the plane or the tube, but you can't access Netflix there anyway as you can't download. Not sure what the big deal is.

anonymous 5 March, 2013 19:04

LOVE BLACKBERRY!!!!
OUR WHOLE FAMILY IS USING THE FANTASTIC BBM TO KEEP IN TOUCH WITH EACH OTHER
CANT LIVE WITHOUT IT!!

misterk1973 5 March, 2013 21:24

Anon 18:57... BlackBerry employee perhaps??? Ha!

davefromwales 6 March, 2013 00:16

heres the thing, I know people with Z10`s, I don't know anyone with Netflix subscriptions, they all have lovefilm. so to keep banging on about some crappy video company that nobody in the uk really uses seems kinda stupid.

Possibly as stupid as taking a `this weeks deal` as a sign the price has dropped forever, who knows, but the absoloute lack of clarity that the carphone price is a promo and not a regular price is purely a sign that cnet is obviously biased, or cant get its facts right. Im still trying to work out which is the worse scenario.

anonymous 6 March, 2013 09:01

@davefromwales

I know people with Netflix subscriptions and nobody with a Z10....

Swings and Roundabouts, and although netflix on a phone is really no big deal for me, it would influence my decision in buying a BB10 tablet should one ever arrive.

The Z10 does look REALLY good, but as I've moved to a contract-free setup, the initial outlay of the Nexus 4 was the winner for me.

anonymous 6 March, 2013 09:13

I'll be honest from the start, i am an android fan but i also like a new change which is why when my contract ran out instead of the S3 i was going to have decided to go for the Z10. I dont really know what to make of it yet, its a gourgeous looking phone, the screen is quite nice but not as vivid as Super Amoled and the camera seems to have a bit of lag but does take a nice shot, i aint to keen on the swipe features although i probably will get used to it, the app store is really poor but it is growing slowly but there aint a lot if topend apps,one thing that did wreck me was i couldn't seem to open any apps until i realised they get sent to the task manager and then you open them from there WTF, all in all it is a nice phone and miles ahead in tech comapred to apple and windows but it aint quite android yet, give it time and it could easily push past apple and windows, i di wish i had gone fir the S3 now but also am still looking forward to see what BB can bring to this phone in the near future, anyway this is just my opinion and everyones different...

anonymous 6 March, 2013 09:47

@anonymous 6 March, 2013 09:13 Should I be nice? I simply do not believe you. Please do not mention your private parts or talk to yourself if you are going to respond to my comment.

http://crave.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/blackberry-z10-and-bb10-reviewed-classy-phone-kooky-os-50010302/

This is pretty funny everyone, read the 6th and 7th comments.

anonymous 6 March, 2013 09:53

While I was typing my comment I looked right of my computer screen and he Z10 is available for £26 per month. I think I will upgrade to the Z10 now.

http://mobiledeals.cnet.co.uk/phones/blackberry/z10/

anonymous 6 March, 2013 13:04

I've been on BB too, for many years. I was very happy with BB and was hoping that BB10 would be launched at a reasonable price. However, when RIM announced the price for a Z10, I switched to a Nexus 4. It takes time getting used to, but at less than half the price and a cheaper subscription, it's worth it.

anonymous 6 March, 2013 14:08

Its funny to read these articles by people who don't actually do their own research and piggyback from other writers. There's a promotion going on right now and Android phones had an even bigger discount.

Great article Rich, lol.

The_C_Man 6 March, 2013 22:22

The difference in the contracts should have been checked before declaring prices had been trimmed from the Z10. The difference is actually due to lower offerings in text and call allowances. These were always offered but you had to go to the Service Suppliers to ask for them and up until now they did not have a large enough supply of phones to make it possible.

As far as Netflix and Love Films go they may have done themselves a great disfavour as Blackberry is running it's own Rent or Buy film and music deals and with the use of an HDMI lead they can be shown on a large screen TV with the quality comparable to a standard DVD at least. The films can also be stored on a pc using the new Blackberry Sync.

It would be nice if somebody would actually check beyond what so called analysts state.

anonymous 6 March, 2013 23:37

£30 for the handset is an unbelievable bargain!

anonymous 10 March, 2013 10:20

It's a wonderful device. Had it like a week now. Don't need to even go out with iPad now.

anonymous 13 March, 2013 00:05

I reckon 10 comments from Blackberry employees there shilling their little hearts out. thanks guys. seriously. good job. take the rest of the day off.

anonymous 21 March, 2013 17:22

FYI people, the new blackberry is an awesome peice of equipment, it completely outclasses everything else on the market including the much praised i-phone as far us usability and speed, the GUI is amazingly fast and there is no difference at all in start time between any of the apps.

There are some shortcomings in the app department, in particular when it comes to the apps that are "ported" from other OS's such as iOS and android, blackberry depends very heavily on it's amazing browser to do a lot of the work that a true native app would handle internally.

Youtube, facebook. linked in and a few others notoriously switch to the browser instead of hosting new pages in the app shell itself.
This is clunky, cheesy and a pretty cheapskate solution.
The device is amazing, the browser outclasses everything else on the market, the dual workspace, entwerpise management and massively superiour hardware encryption still make the blackberry state of the art and generations ahead of anything else on the market.
Netflix is and always has been a garbage service, I don't know why people even bother with it.