94 percent of T-Mobile upgraders dump BlackBerry as CEO complaints backfire

BlackBerry’s CEO, John Chen, blasted T-Mobile last month after the carrier launched an apparently innocuous promotion that would reward customers for switching from a BlackBerry phone to the iPhone. In response to the outrage, and in a move that appeared designed to appease Chen and his company, T-Mobile introduced a deal that would offer money off a phone upgrade to T-Mobile customers with BlackBerry phones. Those switching from BlackBerry to another manufacturer’s device would receive $200, while those moving from an older BlackBerry to a newer model would receive $250.

Chen’s outrage appears to have backfired on BlackBerry. According to what purports to be an internal T-Mobile memo seen by TmoNews, 94 percent of the people that did trade their BlackBerry phones in opted for a non-BlackBerry device for their upgrade. The promotion also resulted in T-Mobile customers trading in 15 times the normal amount of BlackBerry devices during the period the offer was valid. Sources told TmoNews that — for T-Mobile at least — the promotion was “very successful.”