RIM: The PlayBook tablet to be less than 500 dollars

Research in Motion’s BlackBerry PlayBook tablet should be available in the United States during the first quarter of 2011 for less than 500 dollars, allowing them to compete with Apple’s iPad.

At the end of September 2010 Research in Motion (RIM), the Canadian BlackBerry Smartphone manufacturer, unveiled their first tactile tablet which was oriented to the professional world but which could provide multimedia functions thanks to its dual core ARM Cortex-A9 processor.

The BlackBerry PlayBook tablet’s launch was also a good occasion to unveil the new BlackBerry Tablet OS based on QNX. The tablet should be a "mobile companion" which can be associated with a BlackBerry Smartphone which can act as a cellular modem.

Jim Balsillie, co-CEO of RIM, provided some additional details on the strategy of the tablet’s launch. The tablet will be available in the United States in the first quarter of 2011 for a price of less than 500 dollars. This will allow it to effectively compete with the Apple iPad tablet, which is currently dominating the market but whose pricing begins at 500 dollars.


Still a lot of mystery surrounding the PlayBook
RIM will join the numerous other new players looking to take a slice of the tactile tablet market, with the sectors sales estimations showing impressive growth in the coming year. Samsung has aggressively attacked the market at the end of 2010 by launching the Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet which is oriented towards the general public. Like the Playbook, it comes with 7" display, while other releases should quickly follow in the first quarter of 2011.

Balsillie is confident in the tablet and believes that it is capable of taking market share from the iPad. This is a way of hitting back at Steve Jobs severe criticism, with Apple’s CEO stating that the PlayBook was already "stillborn ".

The co-CEO of RIM explains that consumers are tired of Apple’s closed policies and are looking for something else. The PlayBook tablet should in any case provide the company with a new source of revenue at the same time their BlackBerry Smartphone’s, while still putting up strong sales, start to be swamped by the mass of competition in the market which is leading to their edge in the professional segment being diminished.

The PlayBook’s expansion strategy will then follow in South Korea, with this to be one of the first markets outside of the USA where the device will be available as RIM is currently building an affiliate company in the country.