Smartphone pricing experts find the $699 price tag of the BlackBerry Priv on the upper end which could determine if the Canadian phonemaker would finally be able to recover from years of financial losses with its flagship device.
To help consumers who may want the new device but could not afford the initial cost of $699, AT&T said on Monday that beginning on Friday, the carrier has four different payment options. Three of the options are part of AT&T's Next installment plans.
The fourth option is to enter a two-year contract which brings down the initial cost to only $249.99. However, ZDNet reminds buyers that buying phones on contracts is not advisable because the plan is not flexible. If the buyer cancels before finishing the two-year term, there is a $329 termination fee.
For the installment plan, buyers of the first BlackBerry phone model that runs on Android OS do not need to make a down payment. They can opt for the Next 24 Plan that would require 30 monthly payments of $24.67, or Next 18 that would cost $30.84 for the next 24 months, or the Next 12 that requires 20 monthly installments of $37.
Buyers under the Next plans could go for early upgrades by trading their Priv units.
In late October, BlackBerry started to accept pre-orders for the Priv for buyers in the U.S., Canada and UK. The New York Post reports that among the likely early users of the Priv are the Kardashians.
It cites sources that Jason Binn, CEO of Du Jour Media, got the first four units of the Priv. He was overheard as saying he would give it to his friend Kris Jenner as 60th birthday present, and to Kris's daughters Khloe, Kim and Kourtney.
According to blog Re/code, Kim is a phone hoarder and has three replacement phones available at all times. Page Six also reports that BlackBerry will send the White House Priv units also. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is a known BlackBerry user.