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Analyst: BlackBerry Tour's trackball issues hurt Sprint, Verizon
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Trackball issues plaguing Research In Motion's BlackBerry Tour smartphone have contributed to high return rates for the device at Sprint Nextel and have angered Verizon Wireless, according to an analyst.
Gerard Hallaren, director of research at TownHall Investment Research, wrote in an investment note that Tour users need to clean the device's trackball frequently, "preferably with compressed air." He also said that "not surprisingly, most customers prefer not to." Users on several online forums have complained about the problem, especially that the trackball has a lot of trouble scrolling left and right.
The problems have caused to the Tour's return rate at Sprint to climb near 50 percent, Hallaren said.
Sprint appeared to disagree with the figure. "We experienced a small percentage of early production BlackBerry Tour smartphones with trackball issues. As soon as the issue was identified, we worked closely with our partners at RIM to resolve the problem quickly," Sprint said in a statement. "This was an isolated incident that affected a small number of devices. RIM's products remain among the highest quality devices in Sprint's product portfolio. We recommend customers experiencing issues with the trackball on their BlackBerry Tour smartphone visit a Sprint Service & Repair Center."
Verizon also is experiencing serious problems with the Tour, Hallaren wrote, a vexing issue in light of Verizon's deep and widespread support for BlackBerry. A Verizon spokesman did not immediately have a comment on the matter. A RIM spokeswoman did not return repeated requests for comment.
Both Sprint and Verizon launched the Tour July 12 for $199.99 with a two-year contract.
For more:
- see this Barron's blog post
Related Articles:
RIM releasing BlackBerry Tour for Sprint, Verizon
Did Sprint promise RIM BlackBerry Tour sales?
Sprint's BlackBerry Tour to sprout WiFi next year
Comments
Posted by Anonymous | September 18, 2009 - 10:01am
I have the Tour and it is the best phone that I have purchased yet. I love my Blackberry. No problems with the trackball at all.
Posted by Anonymous | September 18, 2009 - 3:57pm
I returned the Tour because of the Trackball problem. I checked my account on Verizon and they marked that I didn't like the color as the reason for return. So you can't trust their reporting of the reason.
Posted by Anonymous | September 18, 2009 - 4:59pm
I returned the Tour because the dip shits at Sprint could not get it activated.
Sprint an old farts wireless network.
Posted by Anonymous | September 23, 2009 - 8:32am
Even the display unit at my local Sprint store had a trackball that would not function left or right.
Posted by K. Trelis | October 1, 2009 - 10:33am
I purchased my Blackberry Tour on August 7th from VerizonWireless, and as time passed the tracking ball gradually worsened. The trackball worked fine scrolling up and down, but major problems(lagging and skipping icons) scrolling either right or left. I took my phone to Verizon and explained the trackball issues. The technician was aware of the issue with Blackberry Tours and immediately opened a trouble ticket to have a brand new BB Tour shipped to me. According to the technician, the first batch of BB Tours released in July/August were produced with defective trackball apparatus and RIM were aware of the issue. The newer produced BB Tours should not have that issue. Good Luck everyone!!!
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