It's amazing.
I never thought that I would see the day when people were genuinely clamoring for a BlackBerry handset.
The reviews have been unkind to BlackBerry's latest mobile. I can't understand why - Reviewers liked the BlackBerry Passport when that was released over a year ago, so for BlackBerry to decide to make an Android phone, you would have thought that these reviewers would be ecstatic about the prospect of a "new" Android manufacturer.
I've heard (and even mentioned it myself) that sticking Android inside of a BlackBerry mobile in 2015 is at least five years too late - BlackBerry could have done this much earlier and perhaps held on to their customers, as well as drawing in some new ones.
Ok, the BlackBerry PRIV might not be right up there with the other similarly-priced top of the range Android handsets, but give them a chance: It's what customers have wanted for years, so people shouldn't be too quick to dismiss the PRIV.
It just so happens that this isn't quite the case.
Pre-orders of the PRIV in the USA and Canada are high, and they look like they might possibly outstrip supply.
Some customers are excited about the PRIV. Maybe because it's BlackBerry's first Android mobile, and it looks like it will actually be really good, or maybe it's the slide-out hardware keyboard (I miss keys and buttons).
Either way, there is a lot of interest, and if BlackBerry decide that Android is an OS worth supporting, I'd say that we may see more Android handsets from this manufacturer.
In fact, the BlackBerry "Vienna" has already been rumoured...
But, here in the UK BlackBerry faces a different problem.
For a start, I think that us Brits are a fickle bunch. Samsung is still the current Android manufacturer of choice, even though the likes of HTC, LG and Sony have released some brilliant mobiles recently.
Breaking through this brand blindness will not be easy, though there are increasing armies of customers who have taken a chance with cheaper mobiles from the Far East after finding that most premium handsets really aren't worth >£500.
If BlackBerry can drop the price of the PRIV to below the current £559 pre-order price, it will help.
To illustrate just how brand-blind us Brits are, none of the UK carriers are willing to stock the PRIV.
They just don't believe that BlackBerry phones will sell.
So, apart from ordering a PRIV directly from BlackBerry in the UK, the only option currently available is to order one through Carphone Warehouse, who have an "exclusive" agreement to retail the PRIV.
I have to admire their sales technique.
You can get the PRIV from Carphone Warehouse on a two year contract starting from £49 per month, which is still rather high for my liking.
I hope that customers are drawn away from 5 inch plus slabs of dullness, and embrace the PRIV.
The market needs something different, and BlackBerry have finally given customers what they have been asking for for years. Their marketing is way off, but by the sounds of it there are a lot of interested (potential) customers out there.
