No line-ups downtown for PlayBook as RIM launches tablet
Posted April 19, 2011 7:24 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
As Research in Motion unveiled its tablet device on Tuesday, there was little fanfare to accompany the PlayBook launch.
At a downtown Future Shop, there were just three people standing outside – and they all appeared to be members of the media.
Compare this to the launch of Apple’s iPad. In March, hopeful customers slept outside the Eaton Centre to be the first to get their hands on the second version of the device.
RIM, the Waterloo-based BlackBerry maker, is admittedly facing an uphill battle.
PC Magazine mobile analyst Sascha Segan said he doesn’t expect consumers to line up to buy the PlayBook, noting a lack of software applications that define the iPad.
As well, users will not have direct access to their email, contacts, or calendar – unless they already have a BlackBerry smartphone and download the BlackBerry Bridge app to do so.
That problem is expected to be fixed in later versions of the device.
Analyst Matthew Robison said businesses will wait to use the PlayBook if they don’t have a “pressing” reason.
“They are not a must-have for most people in business,” said Robison of Wunderlich Securities in San Francisco.
But they are “compelling” for professionals in the life sciences field and others who need to do presentations, have a device with a long battery life and want access to corporate information, Robison said.
The PlayBook operates on WiFi networks to get an Internet connection, eliminating the need for a data plan with a wireless carrier.
According to some estimates, Apple sells about t3 million iPads a month. RIM is expected to sell 3 million PlayBooks in all of 2011.
With files from The Canadian Press.
