Rage, rage against the dying of the light
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RIM's Playbook tablet fails to set the world on fire
BLACKBERRY MAKER Research In Motion (RIM) has launched its PlayBook tablet, however, initial reports suggest that the device isn't exactly flying off shop shelves.
A number of stores carried the device for the 19 April release in the US and Canada, but many of them only had a handful of units, according to a limited and not very scientific study by Reuters.
Reuters checked out four stores in Toronto and found that none of them had more than five Playbooks in stock. More worryingly for RIM, perhaps, by mid-afternoon all of these stores still had some of their Playbooks available. Something that either suggests that Playbook buyers were otherwise engaged, or that the much-hyped Ipad rival isn't selling well.
"It's going to be a tough sell to the consumer," Colin Gillis, an analyst with BGC Partners, told Reuters. He cited the lack of secure email, one of the selling points of the Blackberry smartphone, as a deciding factor in why people are refusing to buy.
The apparent poor sales could contrast starkly with the launch of the Ipad 2 last month, where many stores ended up sold out within hours and customers were frequently greeted with long queues.
It's likely that RIM will recover some ground in the enterprise market, where it still has major market share in smartphones. The Blackberry brand is trusted by many in the business world, which could help the company persuade business people to get a Playbook instead of an Ipad, but the missing features are likely to negatively impact that, not to mention the poor consumer turnout.
A number of analysts have indicated that sales of the Playbook will pick up the pace over time, making it a 'slow burn' product, but that reality is unlikely to sit well with RIM executives, who are anxiously watching as their tablet debuts to an apparently non-existant audience.
RIM is expected to sell roughly three million Playbooks by the end of the year, significantly fewer than the close to 15 million Ipads Apple sold in 2010. If sales don't pick up sometime soon, however, it might not even reach this target.
Blackberry spokespeople in the UK would not comment on sales, or sales predictions. µ
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I've bought three. 1 @ $299 & 2 @ $199. Almost everyone I know has bought one or more. They're sold out everywhere.
RIM got this product 100% right. The Bridge is a Bluetooth must have feature everyone will soon want though at this moment the paradigm isn't obvious to current tablet users.
Consider this:
1.) A single PlayBook can be used by a team of people because core productivity features of Email, Calendars, etc remain on the Phone, with the client App on the Playbook.
2.)When you edit or view your emails on the Playbook, those changes are saved on your Phone so you are always in sync. (Do you ever use your IPAD and not have your phone?)
3.)3G Internet via the Bridge lets you save costs using an existing data plan, maximizing your usage (Honestly from an accounting perspective this is pure gold).
4.)Bridge your Playbook with your BlackBerry and the bluetooth range is 100ft (my phone might be in my office, and I am in the conference room but I still have connection to the phone)
5.)You get visual notification off all events happening on you phone including incoming phone calls. (That's handy when you are in a meeting.)
6.)Finally the browser blows IPAD 2 out of the water, all sites, even those with flash just work.
Obvivously, facts do not play a part in your research, which there wasn't any.
I checked with two staples stores that I deal with in the Toronto area, I was advised that sales were very good one store said they had run through 200 units with most of them on pre-sales.
They had no 64 gig units left, and less then a a fifth of the units they had available. Another store I went today near my home advised that they were almost sold out and that they were very pleased with the results.
The tablet wars have just begun,and to parapharse Winston Chruchill, "this is not the begining of the end merely the end of the begining".
Of course with moronic ill-informed hacks like you writing propaganda, it maybe harder for the general public to try out the Playbook, and see its inherent strengths.
I'm sure if this was an apple product with the same OS, size, specs and shortage of apps, it would be given a chance in a heartbeat. Really, these negative exposures are entertaining but tiring at the same time.
although you seem to give the credit to Reuters. Fact - 24,000 in Canada and US -stores including Best Buy, Stapes and Chapters Indigo - are selling this product. Advance sales coupled with first day have already exceeded projections. The Staples store on Yonge streeet mentioned on CBC as having one lonely customer at 7:45am was one of 60 who pre-ordered and he was there to pick his already purched unit. Are you trying to lower the value of the the stock so you can get it cheaper? is my question. Go back to school. If I told porkies like you I would lose my job
50000 on a first day is good - and, may I add, considering all the neg. press by Apple fanbois, pretty fair.
A more balanced article would have given the report more credibility.
Pathetic piece of journalism with zero credible data and lots of misinformation.
BlackBerry users do get secure email on their Playbooks through the BlackBerry Bridge.
And those who don't have a BlackBerry will surely not miss "secure email" since they never had it to begin with.
That's the case with all the tablets on the market, yet nobody's complaining that this is missing from the iPad2.
I just set up my Gmail and Yahoo email accounts on my PlayBook and it's working nicely.
So the Calgary Herald actually did some credible journalism and spoke with Allan Kambeitz of Best Buy Canada who paints a very different picture than Dean does above...["Sales of PlayBook are exceeding our expectations," he said, noting that the most expensive 64-gigabyte model, which retails for $699, has been the strongest seller so far.]
Enjoy the Apple VIP treatment next time you are in Cupertino in September for iPhone5 Dean - pathetic!
The Tame Apple Press is doing its best to strangle this baby in it's crib. They know that once people get this device in their hands, they will never look at an iPad again.
Is it any wonder?!
has no data that is making this article not credible.
other article about how the playbook sell have data.
I can say that this article is just based on what the writers thinks, if I am your Boss I'll fire for you don't base your report in the actual count but basing only on what you thinks that makes this article useless
Dean where did you go to journalism school? You should sue them for breach of contract...after you look up breach.
Sigh...I don't think too many are surprised. The PB is a total dud, and...very sadly, may mark the beginning of the end for RIM. They still have their corporate base and that can sustain them for a long time, but failed product after product is not helping them, or providing much hope of a comeback.
But there is 20000 store which sell the playbook. Is the note the same thing. Appel beging by just few stores to create line up. It's a part of it's marketing plan.
I do not believe that such articles get published.
I mean there are over 20000 outlets sporting the PB how many sport iPads on launch day. Plus I pre-ordered mine (like many other people) on the 18th from Staples walked in @7:00 am on the 19th and walked out with it and it is just amazing.
It's funny to hear everyone complain about apps but i can do everything with it like on my laptop using the browser which rocks.
The Bridge is just amazing me Playbook and BB are now one and working in harmony which is just amazing.
Then it will fly off the shelf within minutes, not hours or days...
.....and already top (I use that word advisedly) journos know its a flop.
Thats just amazing how folks get this info.
I'm impressed.
Also being sarcastic just in case....