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BlackBerry Priv has been delayed or has it?
BlackBerry is the last of the former mobile giants still to operate under its own esteem – after Microsoft bought Nokia and Google, followed by Lenovo, bought Motorola – and the company’s latest attempt to woo customers runs on the Android Lollipop OS.
The long awaited BlackBerry Priv brings a hardware keyboard and the company’s own security and applications to the Android OS and last week, BlackBerry launched the Priv in the US. Or so we thought, at least; BlackBerry’s own store now lists the handset as “expected to start shipping the week of November 23, 2015“.
If you go to Shop BlackBerry’s UK, Canadian or US stores, you’ll be greeted to the same message and if you’re one of those who have pre-ordered you might be a little worried now. All is not lost however as we can reveal that those who pre-ordered are likely to get theirs before November 23rd.
I placed a pre-order on BlackBerry’s UK store for the Priv towards the end of last week after Carphone Warehouse shipping slipped to the end of this week and the latest update on the BlackBerry store still suggest my unit will ship after the launch, which was yesterday, November 9th.
To get some more information, I’ve spoken to Shop BlackBerry in the UK and the USA and both have confirmed that the release is happening in batches. Those who ordered earlier than last week are likely to be in the first batch while the second batch is for those who ordered up until yesterday. For both of these batches, shipping is expected within 10 days of the release on November 9th.
However, if you haven’t ordered the BlackBerry Priv from BlackBerry direct yet, then you’re set to be in the next batch, for which shipping will begin on November 23rd. That being said, it seems that in the US, UK and Canada, third-party retailers are likely to have it in-stock before BlackBerry gets its next batch of units in.
In the US, B&H PhotoVideo suggests a release of November 20th, while in the UK, Carphone Warehouse had the handset in-stock briefly yesterday before pushing it back to November 13th as it ploughed through all available units. In Canada, all five major retailers have the Priv in-stock, which suggest they’re probably the best place to buy one if you want it in a hurry.
There’s no doubt that the BlackBerry direct shopping experience hasn’t been as fluid as many customers might have liked but it’s not all bad news as some users are reporting that they have already received shipping confirmation.
Either way, BlackBerry expects to have your phone to you in under 10 days but if you want a BlackBerry Priv in a hurry, you’ll either need to go to a third party retailer or to your network. Then again, you could always order from BlackBerry direct and mod your phone with the Priv’s software goodies in the meantime.