When T-Mobile isn't obsessing over its relationship with AT&T, the carrier is busy catching the ire of BlackBerry, which is still on a painful path to irrelevance. This week, T-Mobile upset many BlackBerry fans, including CEO John Chen, after a promo offering BlackBerry owners a discount when trading in for an iPhone. Chen, and BlackBerry's loyal followers, criticized T-Mobile's marketing tactics, which the carrier interpreted as "[limiting] consumer choice." In response, T-mobile has "one sweet deal."
In an effort to show BlackBerry fans that T-Mobile "respects [their] passion," the carrier on Wednesday announced a new promo, starting this Friday, it will offer $200 credit toward a new device when trading in a current BlackBerry handset. You'll have to upgrade to a new device, though it can be any OS of your choosing—even an existing BlackBerry device, such as the Z10. BlackBerry users that do trade up to a newer BlackBerry handset will actually get an additional $50 off on top of the $200.
T-Mobile marketing chief, Mike Sievert, said on Twitter that two-thirds of users upgrading from a BlackBerry device jump over to a competing OS, such as Android or iOS. So while T-Mobile's original promo was a bit narrow, chances were high BlackBerry users would have opted away from something like the Z10 anyway. T-Mobile is offering an extra $50 on top of the $200, which is quite a bit off the total value of a device. Will BlackBerry users take advantage?
T-Mobile says eligible BlackBerry phones must power on, have no cracked screen, or water damage. The offer will kick off Friday and run for a limited time, so better take advantage quick if you're looking to trade up.
