Citing anonymous sources at RIM’s manufacturing partner Quanta, Collins Stewart analyst John Vinh is indicating that Research In Motion may be considering exiting the tablet market after halting BlackBerry PlayBook production. In a research note, he writes: “While Quanta last week acknowledged that it had laid off a significant number of production workers from a factory focused on producing the […]
BlackBerry PlayBook
Price cuts and PlayBook 2.0 software coming to RIM PlayBook
On its second-quarter earnings call today, RIM outlined a number of steps it will take in a bid to turn around the PlayBook’s fortunes after revealing that it had shipped only 200,000 units of its QNX-powered tablet in its last fiscal quarter. Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis said that RIM will offer a number of promotions to increase sales, including incentives for […]
RIM halts work on on 10-inch PlayBook in favour of QNX smartphone?
Remember those rumours that RIM was working on a 10-inch version of the PlayBook? While it appears that the rumours were in fact true, it also now looks like RIM has put those plans on hold. N4BB.com is reporting that “the entire 10-inch PlayBook development has been canceled” in favour of its first QNX-powered BlackBerry ‘Superphone.’ Contrary to earlier statements, […]
RIM delays launch of upcoming devices including 4G PlayBook
As Research In Motion today announced financial results for its first quarter for fiscal 2012 (more on this in a bit), Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis indicated that the 4G versions of its BlackBerry PlayBook would launch in the fall. In the past, RIM had indicated that these would launch in the summer. RIM is planning at least three 4G versions of […]
Poor BlackBerry PlayBook sales denied by RIM
While Best Buy has indicated that RIM BlackBerry PlayBook tablet sales have exceeded expectations, another is reportedly painting a very different picture. According to BGR.com, a “trusted source from a major big box retailer” reports sales have fallen significantly short of expectations and up to 90% short of internal sales targets. The source adds that returns are also much higher, […]
RIM BlackBerry PlayBook sales top 250,000 units?
While RIM has yet to provide any official sales figures for the just-launched BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, RBC analyst Mike Abramsky (who estimated first day sales at about 50,000 units) now estimates that the company has sold about 250,000 units. Sales are described as “steady” and could top 500,000 tablets in its debut quarter. Abramsky also found that PlayBook returns are […]
RIM recalls about 1,000 PlayBooks
RIM today confirmed that it is recalling about 1,000 BlackBerry PlayBooks due to a software issue. RIM determined that approximately one thousand BlackBerry PlayBook tablets (16 GB) were shipped with an OS build that may result in the devices being unable to properly load software upon initial set-up. The majority of the affected devices are still in the distribution channel […]
RIM sells 50,000 PlayBooks on first day?
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 […]