Blackberry Storm Will Cost $700? Presumably They're Kidding

Henry Blodget | October 22, 2008 4:04 AM

BerryReporter.com sends photos of what purports to be a Best Buy stocking computer showing pricing for the Research in Motion (RIMM) BlackBerry Storm iPhone killer of $699.99. Unless they're looking forward to seling nine units, we assume 1) that's before a massive subsidy and/or 2) they're joking. (Research in Motion, Best Buy, BerryReporter--any or all of them.)

The Storm also was apparently supposed to have gone on sale on October 16.  Oops.

blackberrystormpricing.jpg

BerryReporter.com:

Yesterday, BGR posted what seemed to be a paper copy of a Best Buy RSS screen showing the release date of the BlackBerry Storm.  Today we have for you the actual screen shot of the release date and the price screen thanks to the Berry Reporter Minions!  There have been few reports on speculated prices for the Storm and I guess you could still call this half confirmed, but this is as hard of evidence as we have so far.  The price as you can see is $699.99 which is close Best Buy’s $679.99 pricing of the BlackBerry Bold, which is just $20 more.  As I explained on the price screen of the Pearl Flip 8220 the circled part of the image that says Perf Code: E means that they will carry the phone and that it is no a hoax.  This $700 price tag is about what I thought the phone would cost.  So all you Verizon people that keep asking me the pricing on the Storm, here it is and it is probably not as pretty as you thought.  Let’s just hope you are eligible for an upgrade (and who knows what that price will be).

On another note, since the Bold release date got pushed back once again to supposedly Oct. 27th, the Oct 26th Best Buy release date probably won’t happen.  Sorry guys.

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23 Comments

Warhammer CD Key (URL) said:
hah... Just kiding...
Johnnty said:
that's the price for an unlocked device, right?
zach said:
no thats for the locked vzw version..mobilecityonline.com has both the unlocked and the locked version of the storms for pr order locked vzw 599 unlocked 699
I have a hard time believing that. RIM hasn't stopped drooling about all the amazing subsidies and marketing deals it's getting this quarter, and how they're going to whack their margins to grow market share. There's no way this phone can sell in any quantity for more than $300.
Kerri said:
The 10-16-2008 date is when the SKU information was entered into Best Buy's inventory system. In order to see the release date, that information is under "Additional Info" which is not available on this main screen. The price itself seems high, but that is the product price without a contract, but Best Buy rarely sells just the device.
dj said:
Dan your so full of shit it's funny LOL
Mike D said:
How is Dan full of sh*t. I'm a Verizon subscriber dying to upgrade to the Storm, and I can assure you that I'm not paying a dime more than $250-300. I want this phone desperately b/c my current 8830 is crap, but there's no way I'm paying $700 for a phone in this day & age. If that's where they price it, I'm off of the Blackberry platform and moving to Google or Apple.
verizon slave said:
I would never ever EVER pay more than $250 for a Storm, I'd sooner let my VZW contract expire in February and switch to AT&T.
sasha said:
I will only spend 250 to 300 for this phone honestly my contract is about to end for verizon... so if they want to up the price on things just cause they are verizon and they have a tendency of doing this with all phone im switching to at&t and either getting the bold or the I phone and the I phone is looking for like it for only 199......... come on verizon get real america is in a recession, and for vodafone storms are free as long as you sign a contract and have a data plan... need i say more ..................
ROGERMOORE said:
I dont know why you people are trusting this stupid website. RIM has yet to reveal a price on the Blackberry, so all other seller's prices don't matter. I feel bad for the idiot that wants to preorder a phone before a price was officially released!
Tyler, Tx said:
I talked to a Verizon employee 2 days ago who gave me an unofficial price of $200 after $100 rebate.
Mystic, Pa said:
I was also given the price of $200 - $250 by a Verizon store. That's with a new contract, mind you.
ButchPiru said:
If Verizon decides to price the storm over $299.99, my 9 years of being a loyal Verizon customer is moving to T-Mobile, the home of Google's Android OS. Sorry Verizon.
Jim said:
Why is this so hard to believe. Look to the past. The LG Voyager, which was also touted as an "Iphone Killer", sold for $500 without a contract, and the voyager isn't a quarter of the device that the Storm is. While I agree that $600-$700 is EXTREMELY steep for a phone, I am not in the least bit surprised. We are, after all, talking about Verizon.
Weege said:
The Storm has to compete with Apple's 3g($199). I bet 2 year contract price is $199. I too cant wait till this thing comes out, I'll be ditching the POS treo!!!!!!!!!
Dan said:
Listen kids, do you really think Verizon and RIM are dumb enough to sell a phone for that much? At the absolute most it will be $350 (with, of course, a contract). I'm guessing more like 200-250 to compete with the iphone and such.

The price listed on the best buy page might be the outright price. That is, what the phone is actually worth, not what someone pays for it when they use a New Every Two upgrade or start a new contract.
Dan said:
And Jim, ANY decent phone without a contract is going to run you $350 to $500 easily. Even some of the awful freebies you get with with new contract are worth at least $200. Do you really think that any device that lets you talk, text, and browse the web (blackberry or not) in the palm of your hand is worth less than $500? Use your head! Cell phone companies are able to take off so much money by putting you on a contract. That is just how it works.
The Doodle (URL) said:
Here is the thing though _ I phone set the standard, if this is "As Good" as an IPHONE - which is a tall order- no way anyone would pay more for an as good.

I am with Verizon and Blackberry now, and just waiting to see what this phone offers, if it isn't as good as the IPHONE I am off to ATT.


Blackberry Girl said:
I hope that this phone will not be that much. That was the original price of the first original IPhone back in June of 07. Verizon has to have better sense than that to keep the price low to compete with the iphone, if not they are doomed. G1 is no comparison in my opinion, the instinct isnt holding up, but the Tmobile T919 (the behold) just might be the breakthrough for TMobile if verizon keeps this prize high. You guys have fun shopping this 4th quarter. I am a Tmobile customer, I might just wait on the Samsung T919.
verizon said:
The blackberry storm will be released closer to christmas time, as in december. The real price will be from lowest 179.99- 249.99...this info s from a verizon store manager.
grant said:
im on a family share right now and ist a 100 dollar bill every month will the bill go up if i get this phone because of the data plan?
Pat said:
Psh. I work for Best Buy Canada and the only thing that outrages me about this article is how much better their RSS system is...bullshit!
Martin D'souza said:
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