Bell Storm delayed? It certainly looks that way
Sure, a site or two might have reported yesterday that Bell is going to be launching the BlackBerry Storm on December 15, but we’ve just heard from our favorite Bell ninja that it looks like there a delay in store for the Bell Storm. While Bell has always maintained that the Storm will be available in time for Christmas, the fact that it’s now ordering managers to suggest alternatives to clients on the Storm wait list is rather troubling. He’s what our ninja had to say:
We are being told to take down all promotional P.O.P. (point of purchase displays) for the Storm and are being advised to expect a delay in Storm shipments. They did not say how much of a delay but managers are being advised to start making up sales through the current Bell line up for the Christmas season as we may not see the storm till after the Christmas rush. (Which if the last few years are any indication we usually consider the first 2 weeks of January apart of the Christmas/New Year rush)
We are also being told to stop taking names for “waiting lists” and that in the near future we may need to start contacting these current “wait list” clients to offer them new solutions.
We’re also hearing some grumblings that Telus may delay the launch of its Storm as well, though we are not able to confirm this for the time being. One thing we feel should be noted is that Telus has been heavily advertising the Storm for at least a month while Bell has just started. If there were a serious issue that needed fixing with the Canadian units, would Telus feel pressured to release a device with an unfinished OS much like Verizon / Vodafone, while Bell just takes the delay on the chin?
Thanks, Dan!
Oh no. I heard a VERY firm date from a Telus corp store of this upcoming monday
/sigh
I really hope this is one time that you’re not right, I’m phone-less at the moment and I’m waiting for the storm before getting a new one.
This would be a huge kick in the junk considering I’m going to be traveling over the holidays and sort of need a phone.
booarns
Doesn’t this remind you of another phone that this happened to not too long ago… oh yeah, it was the Bold! Looks like AT&T isn’t the only provider that realizes that RIM can’t make a good stable OS right out the door
I imagine the delay has to do with VZW still not being able to meet shipping orders for their customers over two weeks later! I still havent received my storm OR a shipping confirmation yet.
Telus is releasing the Storm this year. If Bell wants to compete, they will also. There are newer OS builds that are much better than what Verizon/Vodsfone shipped with. Better check them sources again.
There might be some truth behind this story… Yesterday I noticed that one of the Telus corporate stores, that I walk by on my way to work removed the Coming Soon sign for the BlackBerry Storm. When I went in to ask about this, the rep just told me that their mananger was ordered to take them down and he gave no real explaination for it.
I also talked to a rep at another Telus store and they told me that they went to the Blackberry launch party in Toronto and the devices there had lot of lags. They also told me that the date is going to be pushed back to the 22-23 of december… not sure how ture all this is..
apart? or a part?
Damn, I’m about ready to give up on it and make the switch to Rogers and the iPhone. My current phone crapped out a few weeks back so I’m using a 5yo phone until this storm comes out.
everything i have heard says that the Storm is nothing really compared to the iphone or the G1, i own the iphone and use that and the bold back and forth (Dealer here, so i can use the demo models on my lines) and to be honest from what i’ve seen and used on the storm (got to handle one…wasn’t impressed) i would rather go with like an LGVU or LG KEYBO over the storm, too many issues, and not a true touch-screen, it’s push-touch. Just an opinion…
i have talked to a rep and they said that telus gets to release it 2 weeks for bell
dunno bout telus but i work for the tech department at bell and done with the test and os was absolutely beautiful the storm will come out december 15 my friends have no fear!
@gohabsgo this might be a little above your level. Techs dont have the say if a unit launches. Like someone said above I believe it to be an availability issue.. they can only make so many at once and Verizon is way behind
I’m in Burlington, ON and went to my local Telus store yesterday where the manager told me he was instructed to remove all promotional Storm materials from the front windows. Not good. He’s in the dark to know why. Looks like a significant delay in my opinion.
Such a promising device, you so poorly managed launch. Then again, they bungled the Bold launch for how many months? I suspect Storm OS and supply won’t stabilize for many months yet (the way things look right now).
I have seen the device for Telus, the OS is most definatly finished!
Telus is in the midst of shipping aswell.
Did you even read the report? you are talking about Telus and they are talking about Bell taking down the signs. there are no signa taken down at telus or Bell at my local mall!
wasn’t telus the rumoured ‘exclusive’ carrier? if there is supply problems, maybe telus wont be affected because they were ‘first in line’
I was at the Toronto Eaton Center on the weekend and they had a huge line of the Telus Storm’s for people to play around with and fill out some promotional “win a free storm” forms.
The phone itself was very laggy and didn’t respond ver well at all and I wasn’t very impressed with this new revolutionary touch technology either. Not sure if Telus is still promoting it at the Eaton’s center but at least it gives the general public a “sneak peek”.
the phone will be out next weeek
Given that it’s out next week…
Will stores have enough supply though?
I have a U.S. Storm. There was a new OS pushed out this week that go rid of the lag issues that the original OS had. The phone is a lot faster with .75. .76 (the Bell version) has been leaked and a lot of people down here are using it and are staying that it moves even faster than the .75 release. I’m sure you will not have to worry about lag issues with the Bell and Tellus Storm is released.
Bell looks like is launching on 15th – was told this by Bell rep but did try and push me to Curve – interstingly because in her view the phone was too laggy.
Bell has launched – limited stores (no doubt prompted by the Telus launch)
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/December2008/10/c8759.html
Just received email from Bell – giving a $50 bill credit on a Storm if you take it in to a store in month of January – obviously the initial release is very limited and they are actively trying to get people to buy in January. I suspect they are only releaseing now due to competition with telus.