7130c Discontinued by Cingular, Thoughts?

[archer6]

Cingular just discontinued the 7130c

I called tech support and they will continue support and service.

Thoughts?

[NJBlackBerry]

What does "discontinue service" mean? Shut them off? I highly doubt it.

[archer6]

What does "discontinue service" mean? Shut them off? I highly doubt it.

No where in my post does it say "discontinue service".
______________________________________________
Here is is again:

Cingular just discontinued the 7130c

I called tech support and they will continue support and service.
______________________________________________
What I'm saying here is that Cingular has discontinued selling the 7130c, it's removed from their web site and when I asked a sales person he would not even quote a price becuase they are not selling them any longer.

I called Cingular tech support and they said they are continuing to provide support for them, even though they are no longer carrying them.

That said, frankly I'm looking for other peoples reaction to this and what they think.

Since I have one and it's favorite BlackBerry I'm a bit suprized they are doing this. The 7130 as you know is right in the middle of RIM's lineup in terms of size. If all the carriers and Rim is going to drop this model, then we will have just two form factors and sizes to choose from.

Also considering the 7130c is a year newer than the 8700c I'm suprized with this move.

Anyone out there have any thoughts Ideas or facts about this development?

Thanks

[NJBlackBerry]

My apologies - I read the post wrong.
I thought you wrote "Discontinue support and service".

My guess is that the Suretype form factor will be filled by the 8100 and they are making room for the next generatio 8800/8900 and decided not to continue the 7130.

[archer6]

My apologies - I read the post wrong.
I thought you wrote "Discontinue support and service".

My guess is that the Suretype form factor will be filled by the 8100 and they are making room for the next generatio 8800/8900 and decided not to continue the 7130.

No worries apology gratefully accepted.

I agree with your assesment, however I find such a gap in size between the Peal and the upcoming 8800 / 8900 and then the much speculated 9xxx.

It's my opinion, that if the reason was lack of sales, I put that on RIM and the carriers for not advertising the phone so that more people would be aware of it.

I bought a Pearl from Cingular and really wanted to like it, however in the end it just was not for me due to the small keypad. A very nice model, just did not work for me.

The 7130c is my favorite as it's one handed operation is the way I like to use it and the 8700c I have is disappointing in the keyboard department.

The new 8800 series appear to have much better shaped keys even though they will be closer together as the width is about 4mm less than the 8700c.

It will be very interesting to see how the product lineup from RIM rolls out this year.

Cheers...

[d_fisher]

From what I heard, the removal of the 7130c was a surprise to Cingular too. Almost sounded like RIM yanked it out from under them.

[archer6]

From what I heard, the removal of the 7130c was a surprise to Cingular too. Almost sounded like RIM yanked it out from under them.

Hmmmm...... very interesting.

[evilcaptain]

Yes, I like the 7130c due to the keyboard and formfactor. It is a nice unit. I don't understand why TMO did not have this model. It is way better than the 7105t in regards to size, speed, EDGE. Well almost everything.

[careyana]

We receive a few requests from folks upgrading from the 7100. It really annoys us as we haven't received approval to order the 8100 from our admin security (we won't be upgrading to BES 4.1 for a while due to a lot of remote Exchange 5.5 servers). It doesn't leave a lot of options for our users who dislike the larger form factor.

[archer6]

I am continuing to research this as I'm not clear on RIM's position. What is true as of this writing is the 7130 models sold by carriers other than Cingular are still available.

I contacted Cingular for a second time this morning and they assure me that service and support are ongoing.

[backbeat]

Yes, I like the 7130c due to the keyboard and formfactor. It is a nice unit. I don't understand why TMO did not have this model. It is way better than the 7105t in regards to size, speed, EDGE. Well almost everything.
If you look at its history with Verizon, the 7130 model has been around for some time (well over a year). http://cache.vzw.com/images_b2c/phones/med/blkberry_7130e.jpgThe GSM variant, as well as Sprint's version, received a facelift to freshen up the 7130 line, but that was it. But, SureType on this formfactor (vs that of the 8100) never lead to high sales volumes, comparatively speaking. RIM is finally ready to move onward and upward.

Will the carriers continue to support and service them? Of course they will. They still support and service (and sell) some of the older pancake models. The question about continuing service/support doesn't even need to be asked, IMO, because none of the majors abandon Blackberry models simply because they cease their sales. For every door that is closed, another is opened. :smile:

[bertiebassett]

it's on the way out.. rim ain't making them anymore and it's down to the carriers to run out there stocks.. clearly cingular have done that and so no more available...other carrier still have stock and so will keep selling until there gone..

the interesting positioning thing for me is the dropping of the low-end model..about 6 months ago the 7290 had a nice position as the budget device with the 87xx as the upper tier model (or a pearl) ... and for some companies it matters a lot that 'managers' get better product than 'staff'...

of course it won't be too long before the 87xx series is toast as well...

it does seem a little strange...nokia make loads of money selling low end devices so that companies can chuck em out to their staff all over the place...