RIM’s PlayBook ships 200,000 in Q2

RIM shares were down 20% today after their Q2 figures were posted. The figures weren’t great and showed that RIM had only shipped 200,000 PlayBooks in the second quarter. This is the figure for the amount of tablets shipped to retailers and not the amount sold. If anything the amount sold will be lower than the lowly 200,000.

The BlackBerry PlayBook is supposed to be RIM’s competitor to the iPad but according to these figures the PlayBook is nowhere near the iPad. The only option for RIM to spark demand for their tablet will be for a price cut, which is looking likely.

Brian Bidulka, the financial head of RIM said

“In addition to the inventory on RIM’s balance sheet, there is inventory in the channel that we will work through with our partners to sell through over the coming months.”

So in order to get rid of current stock it looks like a price cut will be needed. The only way for RIM to ship more tablets is to get rid of the ones currently sitting on shelves in shops.

Mike Lazaridis, Co-CEO of RIM said

“RIM does plan promotions this fall including special incentives for companies and rebates for consumers,”

So it does look like price cuts and a big ad campaign just in time for Christmas. I know here in the UK the PlayBook hasn’t really been pushed and many don’t even know it exists, maybe that is the problem itself!

Will it be a repeat of the HP TouchPad which has now been axed and was sold off at £89 per tablet?

Then main problem with the BlackBerry PlayBook is the lack of Apps compared to Android and tablets and the iPad. BlackBerry App world has nowhere near the amount of apps that the Android and Apple app store have. However RIM have announced that the Android-app player will be available in October in the first major PlayBook update. This should increase the amount of apps but only a few Android apps will run on this player to start with.

You do wonder however, why not just buy an Android tablet in the first place?

We will have to see what the future holds for the BlackBerry PlayBook, at the moment it isn’t looking bright with all the competition out there currently!

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