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52 Comments

Tablet Pricing and Launch Date Document Provides Some Info on BlackBerry PlayBook

By Kevin Michaluk on 14 Mar 2011 11:18 am
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BlackBerry PlayBook

An anonymous tipster sent in the photo above to PreCentral.net, which displays some information regarding upcoming tablet pricing and availability. The document is said to come from a "Major US Retailer" and does show some information regarding the BlackBerry PlayBook.

Specifically, it puts the pricing for RIM's first tablet at $499, $599, and $699, respectively, based on "hard drive", which seems like a novice way of saying 16GB, 32GB and 64GB configurations for the WiFi-only versions of the device. And while that pricing information seems pretty legit, we have less no faith in the March 27th launch date that the document points to. It's very likely the information in this document is now old (RIM was originally aiming for a March 27th launch but it has now been pushed back a couple weeks to mid April) or maybe was just never all that right to begin with (though I wish it was true and I could have my PlayBook this month!). So take this one for what it's worth... we're just doing our jobs and passing along the info. :)

Source: PreCentral.net

Topics: BlackBerry Playbook News & Rumors

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Kevin Michaluk Kevin Michaluk 3676 (articles) 3018 (forum posts)
52 comments

drethos

Wooot finally! A little teaser that really gets me happy. :)

Fr3lncr

Same price as an iPad so I guess that isn't too bad but it would have been nice if it was maybe $50 cheaper. I'll still but it though :-)

you sir name

I agree. As much as I hate apple, coming in at the same price instead of slightly lower doesn't do enough to attract the undecided tablet purchasers (just my opinion), even if the specs are better on paper. Right now most people just see "iPad has more apps" even though the Playbook brings full internet, which essentially eliminates the need for apps in the first place.

juanchy

Feel the same way. I am just waiting for the Playbook to be out so I can make a decision between the iPad2 and Playbook.
Becoming available (i.e. playbook) after the iPad2, I feel RIM should lower the price just a bit. However the shortage of iPads for a few weeks might help RIM.

Kiddo2050

A lower price sends the wrong signal.Despite less apps this product is better than iPad 2 (more power). Of course it's up to RIM to sell it that way. I'll be interested to see what their advertising is like especially since that guy was fired/left.

Jake Storm

I agree. This isn't a "cheap" tablet.
Quality costs money, but it's worth it.

Selling it for less than the iPad2 would send the wrong message. Apple can discount their POS when it loses market share to the PlayBook.

gregorylkelly

Woohooo!!!! March 27th for $599 for me!!

luqman24

Dayum, there's more tablets than we expected. Oh well ill just buy a laptop instead of the PB xD

Groundhog_Day

I'm dying to get my Playbook and it needs to release already.

yobecks

This seems legit! Finally! There's a light at the end of the tunnel!

jlb21

Call me when this thing is released......

DGriffy

hmm its too late for that price structure to change i guess.im buyign but i still want to c a week or 2 of reveiws

SharpieFiend

Bah, yet more useless speculation...

If you guys like, I can make a random chart, say it's from a "Major Retailer" and have it in your hands tomorrow.

Livett

Hmm. Same price as an iPad 2 eh?

Well the iPad 2 will be released here in the UK sooner than the PlayBook. The only thing I was hoping for was that it would perhaps come in at a tad lower, if only to attract a few more buyers.

Well, iPad 2 first it is then. Then PB end of summer!

Iron_Hide

Pass! RIM had to bring this model to Market at $399 or risk problems.
Most folks will find it difficult to pay $499 for this when the iPad 2 base model is the same price and is arguably the better tablet.

mapsonburt

In what world is the iPad2 arguably the better tablet? Other than 950K fart apps what feature of the iPad2 is better than the Playbook (and don't say 10" screen as that's personal preference... I'd much rather have something I can hold and type on one hand and put in my jacket pocket.

Kiddo2050

For me it's worth the price just to avoid being a zombie apple asshole. I'd even pay more for the Playbook. Basically if you won an Apple product today it's like your a total sucker for advertising. I'm not saying you are but that has got to be the perception even the Xoom ad was poking fun at the apple zombies. No thanks, don't want to be identified as one of the me too people.

luqman24

Quit being such a blackberry fanboy. Its obvious that the Apple has more customer fanbase than RIM by a decade so Iron_Hide does have a point, it wouldve been smarter for RIM to price it cheaper than iPad 2 if they want to attract more customers. Not all customers are techys so they'll probably buy what appeals to their eyes, what features it has, the apps, and the price, oh and if it has the Apple logo. Its not like they have been watching these posted videos of the PB that have been appearing on tech sites and most of them do not even know what a dual core processor is. And yes most customers would choose the bigger screen over the small whether you like it or not. And let's face it RIM does not advertise their products on TV as much as Apple does so it would help drastically if they start to do so for the Playbook. The only way that RIM would steal some of Apple's customers at this point is if they had priced the 16GB model at $399. Trust me I've taken Marketing classes and know how a large company can loose customers to a company that has a lot less customers. I am not an Apple fanboy, I'm just stating the obvious facts.

SharpieFiend

It's not being a BlackBerry fanboy, some people just won't buy products from a certain company for whatever reason.

Intosh

Then maybe you should take more business classes, like corporate finance.

How did you come up with that magic number $399? How much more customers will RIM gain by lowering the price to $100? How much profit will RIM forfeit by lowering the price by $100? How much did it cost to design, market and manufacture this product?

meske

As much as I hate to agree, I agree. I was thinking the base would be $399. If you're side by side, most consumers (not knowing the real technology behind the two) will most likely choose the larger screen of the iPad.

The playbook has better technology overall (memory, processor, true multi-task os, screen resolution, built-in HDMI, etc.), but I'm not sure the average consumer will get that.

shimojunk

+1

In my opinion, tablets are a LUXURY item and used mostly for fun and entertainment, rather than real productivity. It's not as robust as a laptop, yet it's not as compact and useful as a smartphone (no GPS, no location based services, no phone).

This means the average consumer sees a tablet as cool, hip, luxury device that can read books, view movies, play music, and browse the internet and maybe send out a couple of emails. That's why Apple has a stranglehold on the tablet market: the average consumer doesn't care about which one is most powerful (XOOM, playbook), they want a status symbol device like the iPad. They want Apps and a lot of them. And that's where Apple wins big time.

The fact that the Playbook keeps getting delayed and iPad1 AND iPad2 have been released pretty much means the only people getting a Playbook are crackberry addicts on this forum. Nobody wants a Playbook plain and simple.

Intosh

No matter what RIM does, it will NOT sell as many PB as Apple sells iPads. PERIOD. Gaining marketshare but bleeding $$$ is not the way to go. It will be suicidable against Apple. PB vs iPad 2 is not the be-all-end-all battle. RIM will concentrate on meeting their own reasonable target in terms of sales, not aiming at beating Apple with its very first tablet.

And assuming RIM sells the PB very cheap and manages to make a significant dent to Apple's marketshare, Apple can lower the iPad 2's prices as well, to counter-attack. With so much cash in its treasure chest, Apple can afford to do that. RIM will bleed to death in such price war.

aloofkid

Hmmm... now I'm a quite confuse which one to buy, I'm expecting Playbook will be at $399, Probably will get iPad 2 for now, wait Playbook, no iPad 2 argh! Which one?!

rafa2044

I heard that majority of the decisions amongst my friends is that the Ipad 2 is a global device, while the PB will not be. Is that true?

jstarett

I would have to say the wifi version IS a world device

Kiddo2050

Sorry but you know this can't be true. After all iPad2 is squarely a consumer device where as the Playbook is a business device. Business... people travel... part of the job....

Blackberries were world phone before apple even made a phone.

moviedude2k

you know how i know this is old? look at the release date for the xoom

accuberryedwin

and your right plus the price for the wifi only Xoom is 599 not 649 i think this is old and just straight pulling our leg

DGriffy

i think the xoom wifi tablet is releasing on the 17th though

DGriffy

and playbook is more global since blackberry is more popular worldwide

upioneer

$499 entry is too high. overpriced apple product comes in at $499. this should be at least $50 less.

sk8er_tor

Why should this be any lower? It's a better product. The iPad should be $300 - it's just a larger iPod.

accuberryedwin

AGREE

enzo07i

agree!
IPAD2 with 900 MHz processor and 512 MB RAM and VGA camera = $300
Playbook with 1Ghz dual core processor 1G RAM and 5 MP and 3MP camera =$499

Intosh

+ HDMI out, no freaking 40$ bozo adapter required.

sandmanfvr

ipad2 is dual core so that means dual core 900mhz but I don't like the ipad2, playbook should smoke it.

Kiddo2050

Why "no faith" in the release date? Do you guys at CB know something abot the release date. If recall watching some video or reading somehwere that a RIM person said "it's comng sooner than you think" or words to that effect.

Kiddo2050

Hmm now that I think about it, it seems funny to call the OS QNX, since it isn't it's Blackberry Tablet OS. Kinda makes you wonder what this sheet really is.

SpectreShepherd

I think the 499 price tag is perfect in comparison to the ipad ! The reason being because of the spec offered by playbook are remarkably over power the ipad specs !!

Cant wait for the release !! Hope its sooner than that also :)

pkcable

I can live with March 27th!!!!! Who wants to bet the anonymous retailer is BestBuy and they are getting it a few weeks ahead of Staples and Office Depot, which is why we have seen those April dates. Keeping my fingers crossed!!!!!

accuberryedwin

all this Apple and RIM bullsh!t it feels like when MS came with xbox and challenged PS and Nintendo. Apple is the New kid on the block Motorola and RIM has been around for a while, Apple has set the standard just like RIM and Motorola did back in the 90's. Now they need to step there game up and i believe they will. I believe in Lebron James moto "Just Do It' or is that Nike's lol

dogg2727

Anyone notice that the Xoom is suppose to come on "March 17" but it's already out...

MichaelPayton21

Most people choose a PC over a Mac or Linux because there are more thing that you can buy/get for the PC. Games, applications, accessories, etc.

I love my Curve, but too dismiss "apps" or to argue that Adobe Flash is equal to/better than hundreds of thousands of applications, games & accessories is fanboyism to an extreme. I know a lot of RIM boosters are touchy over the apps issue, to he point of geeking out over a bad knock-off of Apple's top iOS game, Angry Birds.

You're buying a product you can use, not stock options in a company. I'm gonna keep my Curve, and proudly use my iPad 2. Each has its purpose in my life.

enzo07i

Since September......
almost 6months of browsing crackberry...
almost 6 months of waiting and I can still wait..

Playbook...I want playbook...
I wonder what will I feel if I already have the playbook in my hands,

cribble2k

Who cares. Tablets are garbage.
Netbooks and Laptops do a lot more, and are very thin now. I never want do be that dork sitting there with his tablet in the airport or mall thinking how cool I am...

enzo07i

just don't comment if you don't care, simple! right?

Crackberrykills

Agreed, sir. Agreed.

So, the release date shown is clearly wrong. BGR posted that April 10 is the Playbook release, and that guy is ALWAYS right. Yeah, always. We shall see how it all plays out. heehee.

andrewl2

oops! Please reconsider RIM...

I was waiting to decide between PlayBook and Ipad2 - if they are same price then the vote will go to the iPad2 - no contest! I use Blackberry handset in preference to iPhone now - just didn't get on with the touchscreen - but use 2xMac and 1xPC so I have a foot in each camp. The Playbook would link beautifully to my BB handset and fit in nicely with my current lifestyle but not if it costs the same as the iPad 2. Anyone who claims that Playbook will move into the business space because iPad is a toy/games/media device has been living in a cave for the past year. I deal with publishers, banks, financial institutions and pharmaceutical companies worldwide and they are ALL using iPads for business and business Apps are being developed at an increasing rate (and they are linking iPhones to their email/calendaring servers). I feel like a luddite using a Blackberry these days and pricing the Playbook to compete head-on with the iPad is doomed to failure. RIM are a year behind the curve and need something more than bigger memory capacity (debatable argument as Apple products have always been much more memory efficient) in order to compete in anybody's mindset except for Crackberries. Anything bigger than a Blackberry handset or an iPhone in your jacket pocket is just silly and uncomfortable so arguments over 7" being more "pocketable" than 10" is irrelevant - business people wear suits - not Scotti-Vests - any tablet device will be carried in a portfolio case so, within reason, bigger is considered better. Android tablets are a mess - their Apps are in total chaos, handset/tablet manufacturers are unable to keep up with the rapid release schedule - and Win7 tablets are still a year and a half from release. RIM have a chance to produce something useful and competitive but have to do something REALLY different (price, features, Apps) to get a decent foothold in the market. C'mon RIM surprise us...

luqman24

Who cares what people want and how much they sell. That's isn't your job, that's the manufactures job to worry about that. Buy which ever Tablet you want and happy with and that shall end the Tablet war case. Afterall you are the one using it in the end right? So enjoy which ever you want. I myself will wait till RIM releases a 10" version of the PB. Why? Because I like the bigger screen to watch stuff and play games. Until then I don't give a flying .... About which tablet makes more sales. Agreed? Good day :)

spectacularone

I'm on my 9th BB (love BBM and group calendars) so certainly no Apple fan but I have to say-Apps make the world go 'round. I am currently typing this on an iPad 2 which I bought for our autistic child as well as basic surfing. Someone earlier in this thread said that apps are basically like web browsing? Really? My 7 year old just spent 30 min rocking a pretend baby asleep in a pop up story book! There are hundreds of these interactive books. How many for Android? I can control my TV instantly via a Direct TV REMOTE app built for IPad, just like having the remote in your hand-pause TV etc. My teenager strums a real, lifelike guitar on the screen of the iPad with the Garage band app. Where's the URL for the supposed web-based activities like these and I'll return my iPad!

The trouble is: the more popular a product, the more apps and more awesome the apps. The more apps and more awesome the apps available, the more popular the product. If I'm an app developer I want my product to reach the largest audience and Apple has that audience. How do players like BB and Android get more apps to woo consumers like me to their tablets? Because I want apps and I'm not alone.