Initial estimates suggest that Research In Motion sold about 50,000 BlackBerry PlayBooks on launch day, a figure that includes pre-orders. While RIM has yet to provide any numbers, RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky came up with the estimate by checking with about 70 retail locations.
While these figures are a pale comparison to Apple iPad 2 sales, Abramsky notes that “the launch appears to have been stronger than the launch of Motorola’s Xoom (Android) Tablet, or the Samsung Galaxy Tab.” He also expects that RIM could ship about 500,000 PlayBooks during this fiscal quarter.
Abramsky points out that RIM must address a number of issues to improve sales. Among those is the fact that AT&T is still testing the BlackBerry Bridge app, and growing the number of apps available for the device.