RIM Slashes Prices of PlayBooks
Faced with surplus inventory, a sagging share price and a disinterested public, Research in Motion (RIM) is unloading its much hyped PlayBook tablet at a greatly discounted price. Released in the spring of 2011, the PlayBook originally retailed for $499 (16GB), $599 (32GB), and $699 (64GB). Current online prices of the PlayBook are $299, regardless of storage capacity. Prices are in US dollars, and the sale is being offered on the BlackBerry US online store, until February 4th.
After an annus horribilis in 2011, Research in Motion is seeking to rebuild its badly damaged house. The co-CEOs, Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, are likely to be stripped of their shared role as chairmen of the board in coming days, in a desperate attempt to appease its enraged shareholders. RIM's share price has plummeted to a quarter of its 2010 value. The company took a quarter-billion dollar hit when it first discounted its PlayBook tablet in the fall of 2010. The tablet, much hyped in late 2010 and early 2011, was the great hope of RIM to help resuscitate its image and rehabilitate its share price. Instead, market response was tepid at best, and Apple's iPad 2 and Samsung's Galaxy Tab continued to dominate the market share.
So what should we make of the fire sale? Doom and gloom, or bargain hunter's paradise? It's hard to say, exactly. Reviews of the BlackBerry tablet were by and large, positive. It garnered a "very good" rating by both editors and readers of CNET. Consumers looking to purchase a decently rated tablet at a reasonable price will likely give the PlayBook a second look. And for Research in Motion, having more of their hardware in consumers' hands may be as good a start to 2012 as any.
Image courtesy of BestBoyZ Germany
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