Users giving BlackBerry Priv a solid thumbs down, says AT&T exec

BlackBerry's debut Android-powered smartphone Priv has got a big thumbs down from customers, at-least according to AT&T. An unnamed, high-level executive with the carrier bluntly told Cnet that the device "is really struggling."

The executive noted that the handset mostly caught the fancy of BlackBerry loyalists only, and over-and-above that, majority of those who actually went ahead and purchased the phone found it difficult to make a switch from the Canadian company's OS to Google's OS.

"We've seen more returns than we would like," the executive said.

According to the numbers revealed by BlackBerry, a total of 600,000 Priv units were sold in Q1 this year, well below the 850,000 forecasted by analysts. Many believed that at $700 the phone was overpriced, something which even CEO John Chen admitted in an interview.

Shifting its focus a bit, the company has already said that it now plans to launch two mid-range devices this year - one with a Priv-like physical keyboard, while the other will be an all-touchscreen phone.

Via