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BlackBerry PlayBook outselling the new iPad in the UK

By Adam Zeis on 29 Jan 2013 12:05 pm
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Just as we're heading down the home stretch for the big BlackBerry 10 announcement tomorrow, it looks like we have another bit of fun news as well. According to Context, the BlackBerry PlayBook is currently outselling the new iPad in the UK. Yes, you read that right. In some very cool and unexpected news, the PlayBook has been tops during the last two months of 2012.

Context says the 160,000 PlayBooks sold in comparison to 113,000 of the latest iPad model (the total number of all iPads sold however was 203,000). The PlayBook does sell for less than half of a new iPad however, fetching £129 to the iPads £399.  Also noted is that retailers have much higher profit margins for the PlayBook which helps them want to move more product. Hopefully this is a good sign of what's to come when BB10 phones land in the UK as well.

Source: BGR  

Topics: BlackBerry Playbook News & Rumors International News

10tons' announces their launch lineup of Blackberry 10 optimized games Previous
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Adam Zeis Adam Zeis 3025 (articles) 2790 (forum posts)
81 comments

rickkel

This is one of the craziest pieces of news I've heard in a long time. Unbelievably good news. I just knew they were more aware over the pond...

bbfanboi

Wait till BB10 hits the PlayBook!

whitbags

The numbers seem so small - just 200K iPads in total?

drxym

It's hardly good news. PC World and their ilk are holding clearance sales, discounting the tablets to get rid of them. While potentially it does mean there is a spike in ownership, it is unlikely to be maintained unless stores continue to restock the devices and that depends on RIM actually manufacturing more and the demand being there to do so.

OmarVlogable

I'm waiting for the title to be BlackBerry 10 outselling iPhone 5.

BBQNX

hope Steve Jobs read this

q649

The Walking Dead returns Feb 10th ;^)

Bold_until_Hybrid_Comes

I wish t dog wouldn't have died

KiLuMaNaTi

Me too. At least he went out a hero.

bkupris

Not surprised, hell of a tablet for the price. I bought a couple of them.

chi-town311

I agree. For the price it is pretty slick. can't wait to see what it can do with the update to BB10.

kamalster

We've got an an old intercom/radio system in our kitchen wall that I've been eying as the perfect size to mount a Playbook and a couple of small speakers to use as a replacement for the radio and a whole home controller. Hopefully we start seeing some home control apps for the BB10!

chaosdivine

Get yourself a Wireless Gateway and hook that sucker up via BlueTooth.

kamalster

Need more info...Is "Wireless Gateway" the name of a particular product or are you simply referring to a wireless gateway in terms of a way of connecting a WiFi-enabled device to the internet? Because I already have the latter.

I want to put my playbook in the wall with speakers so we can watch TV/movies, listen to music or the radio, look at recipes, etc, while in the kitchen. And then I'd like to be able to do things like control my heating and lighting from it. And maybe stream audio to speakers installed throughout the house. But that all requires BB10-compatible home automation software (and hardware at the other ends).

Rootbrian

Why not write the software instead?

wuulfy

Its the recession biting lol..

Dave DG

Glad I kept my Playbook and will be getting the new BB10 in White :)

advil_yum

Source: BGR is a bigger shock than the content of the article! ;)

Supa_Fly1

Not really BGR has supported BB since way back in the day! long before the site makeover ... remember the good ol' days of Curve 8320, the pro 8800 series?!

stevejb

Latest iPad as in the Mini? It doesn't state in the article which model.

If it's the Mini, there's possibly a consideration from consumers that if they want an iPad, then get the full size, but if you want a smaller tablet, then get the best value of all the ones on sale.

Just my opinion.

I'm very glad to hear the news however, and I'll bet alot of the buyers own a BB device and are making good use of the Bridge.

Jango Mango

Well the report said fourth gen IPAD. However the thing to note here is that it did not only outsell the iPAD but all tablets within the last 2 months of the quarter. iPad was in second place.

q649

Anyone know how many (total count) PlayBooks have been sold, worldwide?

AtInsider

Well Playbook has been outselling iPads in India also. I believe the count of total PlayBooks sold world wide is approx: 3M to 4M total, but don't quote me. I know for a fact in around the Q3 2012 the world wide count of PlayBooks sold was 2.5M.

By the end of 2013 and with the help of the BlackBerry 10 update I expect to see more than 10M PlayBooks sold, if not more. BlackBerry 10 will push PlayBook sales through the roof.

Chopper110

£129.00? The Playbook was down to £95.00 on the run up to Christmas. No wonder they sold like crazy, we bought two more of them.

drxym

I'm reminded of when Toshiba threw in the towel with HD DVD and some people claimed sales of players in the subsequent firesales suggested the format wasn't dying.

It's certainly a bargain at that price and they're good tablets, but one wonders if the stores are writing them down simply to clear their inventory or intend to restock and keep selling them.

CarGuy1368

We need more PlayBook ads in North America. Most people I know don't even know that BlackBerry makes a tablet. And if they have heard about it, they assume it has the same OS as the BlackBerry smartphone they owned 1-3 years ago.

AtInsider

The problem is PlayBooks are sold out in North America due to high demand. And the demand continues but no PlayBooks to be found. Hopefully RIM can start pumping these things out by the 10's of Millions. People want them, and BB10 will only make them want one more.

scalemaster34

Do you really believe that RIM can continue to "pump these things out" at the prices they have been selling them at the last few months?

Here in NA most of the big retailers clearance them (I got a 64GB for $149 @ OD), and once they were gone they were gone. I think only a few online retailers still have them, and they are the ones that are still trying to get full price for them.

Expect to see a new tablet from RIM, but expect it to be priced at a MUCH higher price point.... $299+

Rootbrian

The retailers have to order more in. RIM can't do that until they make the call.

bbfanboi

Thorsten can help fix that tomorrow when BB10 launches. First, make it available on the PlayBook immediately, then tell the world about the Z10, X10, and the PlayBook. The PlayBook needs to be part of the conversation tomorrow!

It's an opportunity that cannot be missed!

Shintocam

I for one as a Canadian Blackberry loyalist (and owner of a 9810 as well as two Playbooks) thank all of our UK friends for helping to keep the Playbook relevant. When I commute in to work on the train, I'd say it is quite apparent there are as many Playbooks as there are iPads on the train being used. And that includes all iPads - Gen 1 through Gen 4, so it seems the PB is doing well here. I hope that BB10 ultimately makes the PB what it could have been from the beginning. I love my PB - but after drooling over all the BB10 images and videos I really have high hopes that it will make my PB roar.

ferre_kun

:( 16gb playbook's price is not going down but going up here.. It's ±$230 now..looks like the stores here want to get more profits from their leftovers from last years product stocks.

joshua_sx1

Just wondering, where in the world they still getting inventories of PlayBook? Are these still part of 2-year old production? Now, that's really an amazing phone, I mean tablet...

Winstorm

I think that the BlackBerry PlayBook is the better tablet. The specs, price and overall features (not to mention BlackBerry bridge) all makes it #1. The BlackBerry PlayBook is king of the tablets so RIM just needs to keep improving on the features and applications to stay on top.

bbfanboi

The PlayBook hardware is excellent. The core software is good under PlayBook OS 2.1, but it's not spectacular. BB10 is spectacular and fast! Can't wait to run it on my PlayBook.

djrupey

I knew something was up when I went looking for unwanted present bargains on eBay UK in the week or two after Christmas. Compared with mid 2012 used sold prices were far higher than I had expected, even exceeding in one or two cases the price you could buy them new!

Nevertheless the sales figures are terrific news; I thought everyone had written off the PlayBook for dead. Now with BB10 coming it will get a huge boost and sales should increase even more. Not so good for used bargains though!

sgt_snacks-64

I wonder.. IKEA UK gave all their employees 16GB Playbooks for their annual Christmas gift. That may have somewhat helped the figures.

Still... awesome ;)

FryBerry

HEY, I have 6 16GB for sale. $125.00 each. Never been opened, barely have they been looked at!

MozThaGreat

I really hope there is some kind of news tomorrow about the playbook, I'll take anything at this point. Hope for a serious boost in APPS not games and bb10. Im almost more anxious about that than the BB10 phones. almost.

Anybody have any ideas how BBM will be handled on the PB? Like will it have stand alone bbm or will it link to your phone through your BB ID? thoughts?

Rootbrian

WIll be universal and you won't have to pay for apps on blackberry 10. I didn't even have to when I downloaded the ones that also were on the playbook for free.

eanupe09

I love my PB but it's time for some new hardware. Better specs, especially the camera in low light conditions

all3n7

well that's a great news. For the price of 1 ipad. you could buy 2 Playbooks.

I love my Playbook..

new to playbook

I have a friend in Houston who wanted to buy a tablet. I told him how much I was enjoying my Playbook and got him interested. But he checked out several stores and couldn't find one in stock or on display to try it out. So he ended up buying the Ipad Mini.

shlammed

But does this factor in iPad sales from Apple stores and/or online?

CRJDRIVER

I tried looking for a place to purchase a Playbook from the Blackberry USA website. They reccomended Best Buy, Radio Shack, etc. Every website had no stock or product was not listed. Has RIM pulled its stock in the USA or are the vendors no longer carrying it? I really do not care to purchase from Amazon or Ebay. Its times like these that I envy other countries that have Blackberry Stores on every corner like Apple has here in the States.

atlya02

Guess BB wants BB10 loaded on PB first before they restock...

Driftdreams

AMAZON... I just purchased another Playbook, 64gb this time, just cause of the price... 210.00!!! you cant beat that

DJBS4LIFE

Very nice. I'm using my PlayBook on the plane to NYC for the Launch Event as I type this. BlackBerry 10 FTW!!

Ian5986

I am not surprised and I was one of those that purchased the 64GB version for £129 - a great deal especially when compared to iPad.

I am looking forward to the BB10 being made available for Playbook and then it will become even more "Awesome"

Angus_CB

That can't happen here in Canada or the US.
You can buy an iPad at nearly any electronics retailer or big box store.
You would be hard pressed to find a Playbook on retailers shelves or even available online in North America.

Driftdreams

It makes since... The Playbook, despite critics bashing it, is a great tablet. I use it daily for work as well as personal. Something your couldn't really do with the iPad before the mini came. People want portability. Unfortunately for the iPad, its users got used to the 10" display... dropping down to 7" is a downgrade for some. The price point of the Playbook is unbeatable now. I recently bought another Playbook (64gb) just because of that amazing 210.00 price. With the added hype of BB10 and the amount of apps ported to Blackberry World (Appworld) its safe to say the Playbook will soon be the gaming tablet we all wanted as well. This is great news for RIM.

RadioDeadon

The price and spec £129 and 64gb make the Playbook a killer. There's nothing out there approaching that value for money. I got one for work two weeks ago to see how it coped and it's great!! Just ordered another 12 today as a first batch for colleagues who are desperate to get their hands on one having seen mine - RIM are on a real winner if the price remains low and BB10 appears on the Playbook this week.

Driftdreams

Though it was shown, its likely not a true BB10 but rather a render or just an dev alpha ported to the playbook. Blackberry has plans to release a tablet later this year branded "BlackForrest". That is likely to be the one that will run a full BB10 upgrade. If the price it correctly, like 349.00-399.00 for 16gb at launch, Blackberry will surely see a great jump in profits this year.

Rootbrian

Where did you get that information from? If you have nothing to back it up, I call BS.

John Bernard

My wife and I each have a Playbook and a Blackberry Curve 3G. Love them both and will upgrade the phones to BB10 as soon as we can.

I work at a ski hill nights grooming the slopes and bring my PB along with my phone. I love the fact I can tether the playbook with my phone, bridge or get WiFi to keep in touch. Some co-workers have Playbooks too or iPads and those with iPads are realizing they got an over priced tablet compared to me. Can't wait for the BB10 upgrade and see the benefits it will bring.

Cheers
John

Techno-Emigre

Great news. The other pieces to this is that BB phones sell better in UK so people benefit from Bridge. That is (maybe) my favorite feature.

moneyhunster

Mine too, hope we get to make calls from it with bb10 :)

bkupris

Yeah checked again today and the 64gb PlayBook is available from PC World here in the UK for £129 including tax and home delivery. Fantastic value.

dehrlich01

The Playbook (the entire line) is outselling the new iPad (single product). Not trolling, just shedding light on a misleading title...

moneyhunster

I bought 3 more in December, can't wait for the upgrade to become available. The family loves the video chat.
Off to Vodafone shop on Thursday to renew my contract with a new bb10 phone :D

YorkieRay

I flew out of Gatwick at the weekend and PBs were on sale for £124 at Dixons.

TommiTommi

I got my playbook in Jan 12 and have been delighted with it over the past year. I paid £199 which was a good price for the time - I think it is a top quality device, great bridging it to my 9105 and 9900. Hopefully it will be bridged to a BB10 phone soon :)

Rootbrian

It will. DOn't even doubt it. ;)

Zodbuster

once people figure out the Playbook is not just an Angry Birds (ios, android ) tablet.. and the business side of it is realized .. hopefully it will finally succeed.. but those Angry Bird users are a tough ( tho stupid ) lot

DiggerB9

I've had one for 18mths I've bought another two for my kids and have convinced our family friends to buy there kids one each instead of the Ipad and there have been no complaints what so ever.
The price does help but as I bought mine before the the price crash I cant complain.

Bring on Z10 and the BB10 update for PB an I will be a very very happy man

BB10_Rocks

I think it would be a good idea to rename "PlayBook" to "BlackBerry 10 Tablet," even without any hardware changes before BlackForest gets onboard.

What do you guys think? This will propel sales of PlayBook further, with the re-focused marketing on the Tablet. RIM may even be able to increase average selling price on the renamed device.

Why shouldn't RIM leverage on an existing HW to make profit on the PlayBook finally, now that BB10 OS can be loaded up on it? After all, consumers will buy it for the consistent OS experience across the board with a bigger screen (esp. in case of the N-series physical keyboard buyers).

Rootbrian

Nobody really knows when RIM will be releasing another tablet at all. UNTIL they officially make an announcement, NOBODY will know. It's all rumors.

Wasp14

It's good news that the Playbook is selling, but it's doing so at a loss. It came out at a similar price to the iPad and was meant to compete with it but unfortunately failed. Now that stores are having a firesale on both the device and the accessories, it's too good to pass up for most people.

holman_00

Sir Holman
Do ya know witch play book they are referring to new one or old one?

Jimcmf

Holy crap ...... Apple is Dying !!!!

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Bring on BB10 ...... The iPhone Killer !

Cat San

I bought a 64gb version after my 75 year old mother bought a 16gb version. I then bought the mini keyboard (which is awesomesauce) which prompted my mum to buy a 64gb version and a keyboard.
As a side note http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57566260-94/blackberry-10-launch-what-w...
This article just says it all about how some sites are covering BB10. When they ask for a freebie to sweeten the deal for reviews basically, you know they have jumped the shark.

Rootbrian

I wholeheartedly am so happy!!!

EchuOkan1

AWESOME NEWS!!!!! Take that iSheeps! Let's go RIM, BB10 will be herein less than 10 hours.

zhabib

I have been looking for a Playbook 64G in the GTA (Toronto) but no one has any stock.... anyone know of any place that still has some?

Thx.

Al_I_Ws

Bet people stopped buying them now the Playbook is not getting Blackberry 10 until "later this year". Good one Blackberry.