Bold Dropped in UK, Speculations About U.S. Delays

UK service provider, Orange, has reportedly dropped the BlackBerry Bold citing issues with the quality of the software. The news comes just a week after Research In Motion CEO, Mike Lazaridis, hinted the iPhone’s 3G problems were the reason the device was delayed here in the US.

Several websites report seeing a leaked internal memo from the powers that be at Orange informing employees the carrier was pulling the Bold indefinitely, but hopefully not permanently.

“Following reports of software issues with the BlackBerry Bold handset across a variety of mobile operators, Orange has decided to act in the interest of its customers by suspending shipments of the device in the UK. We are currently awaiting feed back from RIM as to when an industry wide fix for these issues will be in place, and expect this suspension to be an interim measure.We apologise for any inconvenience this issue may cause you."next stepsBlackBerry/RIM are doing everything they can to resolve this issue and will be completing full testing and validation to ensure future handsets do not have any quality issues. This may take a couple of weeks so it’s up to us to do what’s best for our customers.”

CEO at RIM, Mike Lazaridis, spoke to the Associated Press late last week and hinted that the handset’s delayed entry into the North American Market is because AT&T wants to be sure it doesn’t see a repeat of the shoddy coverage experienced by customers with Apple’s device.

"There’s great scrutiny, as you might know, on that network and a certain device. So I guess everyone wants to be sure on every last test," Lazaridis told the AP.

There’s still no word on when the Bold might hit the U.S. but AT&T maintains we’ll see it before the year is out. However, while Lazaridis was all too quick to point the finger at Apple, it could be possible that AT&T is holding off because, like Orange, it knows the software has proved problematic for other providers and doesn’t want to risk poking the proverbial angry bear. If indeed the software is below RIM’s usual standard, it’s not likely the CEO is going to admit it.

Sales for the Bold are already in danger. RIM has launched its first clamshell device in the 8220 and everyone is working themselves into a right bother over the upcoming release of the company’s first touch screen handset, the Storm. Also scheduled to be released before the year’s end, sales for the Storm (and indeed the flip Pearl) will likely obliterate anyone’s interest in the Bold.