While there has been concern voiced about BlackBerry PlayBook sales in the US in its first few months of availability, the tablet is selling very well in other parts of the world. In Australia, retailer Harvey Norman is reporting that PlayBook sales are exceeding their expectations and they have had to re-order stock multiple times to stay on top of demand.
“Sales of the PlayBook are very, very good,” said Ben McIntosh, the head of Harvey Norman’s Computers buying team, who credited RIM’s success to its tablet strategy. “BlackBerry has probably come from a different direction. The PlayBook was always going to be more of a niche product based on the fact that they’re really targeting the BlackBerry smartphone base that’s in Australia and the world. The sales of the PlayBook have been fantastic, we’ve re-ordered multiple times and it’s exceeded our expectations.”Research In Motion hasn't released any firm numbers yet on total number of BlackBerry PlayBook sales since launch, which has led many people to believe that sales are quite a bit lower than originally expected. While the numbers are no where near those of the Apple iPad - and let's be honest, probably never will be - the PlayBook is still enjoying success in its own right.
Source: Current
Reader comments
BlackBerry PlayBook sales are exceeding expectations in Australia
Hooray, I'm a statistic. And a positive one. I love my Playbook
The PlayBook is spectacular, I just love everything about it. And it's getting better every update we get, i'm totally into QNX OS, it runs smooth and fast. I own a PlayBook that I bought at Palacio de Hierro (Retail store in Mexico city), and I am very happy, waiting to see how and when the Android App player will work on the playbook, and my only request to RIM is to work harder with app developers so we could have tons of apps that we love in our blackberry smartphones, so we could have their version for the playbook (Bloomberg mobile, MLB At Bat 11', Open Table, Sports Illustrated, PayPal, etc).
Regards
A loyal BlackBerry fan from Mexico city
I cannot even sell my "used for 10 minutes" 32GB Playbook on Australias biggest computer enthusiest forum for AUD$400!!! Theyre not selling like hotcakes :)
Its interersting to see the comment from the HN emplyees selling up their product prowess. When I went looking at tablets and in particular the PlayBook, the local HN store had only 2 in stock. The salesman had little knowledge of it and other sales persons tried to waffle on about its features and benefits. When I asked about accessories they were even more full of it! They said they didnt have any at the moment, but that in the coming weeks a wide variety of third party accessories would be arriving. So much for the follow on sales pitch, because had they had their act together and in fact had such accessories then they would have sold a case, screen protector, charging dock and maybe some other attachment at the same time.
Since it was about a month ago that I got it I ventured back to that store and they still didnt have any accessories!
So yes HN stores do sell the Playbook, but so do other Blackberry stockists.
I'm in Australia & have had my Playbook for a couple of weeks now & loving it, suits me much better then any of the other tablet options.
i was one of those who got my Playbook here in Aus at Harvey Norman actually. And maybe i went into a different store than others(though its directly in the middle of Melbourne city). the Playbook and the Ipad had their own stand alone displays(playbooks was bigger) and all of the other tablets on a table next to each other.
already having knowledge of the Playbook meant i didnt need a clueless salesman giving me false info. i will say this much, in places like jb hifi, they hire staff for specific areas, and they dont train them in anything else in the store, and, they wander around so you are liable to get staff who has no clue at all about what you want, eg. Playbook.
and like sssutanto said, phone carriers(Telstra also) are now selling the Playbook in companion plans with BB's.
I'm like Cinderella man in my house, 3 Ipads, and me with my Playbook. But well, you saw what happened at the end of that fairytale.
I love my Playbook!
Who cares? It does not have email, contacts, calendar, tasks. The camera's are horrible, its too small and on top of all that this is Australia so in the end it doesn't matter... Says wall street.
/sarcasm.
I say, NICE this is some possitive news that will only get slammed by the naysayers that only like having 2 choices. And 2 choices always is a good thing especially on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of every November in the United States :)
Awesome product is being enjoyed by the Aussie's. Now how is it selling for the Kiwi's?
I am surprised, this is a good surprise :) I never notice that PB sells quite well here in AU. One thing that I know is the deal from Vodafone (BB 9780 + PB 16G) contract $59/ month for 2 years is sold out!
It's down to $49 per month now. So cheap. Pity the Vodafone 9780 is UMTS 900/2100.
Another place to buy Blackberry products in Aus is mobicity - on-line only - I think you'll find they're cheaper than Harvey Norman.
I appreciate that you can't get an actual feel for an on-line product - but they have the bb range of products that are currently released and about to be released, including 9900, 9810 etc
Yeah I know that is where I got my torch 9800 befor it was released in australia but I am just talking about how meny selling to every day people in the stores and its great they are selling well there despite the lack of push in the stores
The ONLY legitimate place where you can purchase a Playbook from (outright) in Australia is Harvey Norman. ANYWHERE ELSE IS NOT LEGITIMATE STOCK OR IS BEING ILLEGALLY RESOLD! And if you pay closer attention, the price difference is maybe $20 (which is nothing). Go and mention it to your local Harvey Norman store and I'm sure they'll be happy to fix you up somehow.... :)
I thought vodafone and telstra where selling them to or am I mistaken ? Anyway you can also online from oversea if you wish ( but you proberly risk warrenty! So may not be the best idea)
They aren't selling them outright... Only as an addition to your mobile plan... "Add $25 a month to your plan and get a 16GB Playbook" .... Not worth it imho... :)
Drop the price to $99 and include a tablet with email, apps, calendar, and IM and I will buy one. Cause it has flash
That is really good news and very surpiseing!! Considering Harvey Norman are not even trying to sell them every store I have been to just seem to have one hidden behind glass untill the last couple of weeks. One store even told me that they don't sell playbooks and I should try JBHIFI (Havey Norman is the only place that seLls them hear besides some carriers). And at the anoughter store the manager just showed me a box and said "that is the acual size of it. pretty cool! Hay" so I ask him if he had one I could play with before I buy it. He just said "sorry we have to activate it first and then we won't be able to sell it" " So NO I can't and if you won't more info because I personly don't know that much about it! But I am sure you will find info online to help you!!" And he was the manager. Lol
On the other side of the coin the Touchpad was only on sale hear for 4 days! But you could not get inside a Havey's without being hit by one they had really big stands set up with at lest 12 touchpads you could play with and employees telling every one that walk past that you have to cheeck these out thay are the best you see it runs on webos witch is custom made to for tablets!!! Unlike every othe tablet on the market that really is just same as the phone in your pocket (lol) this OS is easily they best you will love it is won't you have been waiting and hoping for ever since you heard about the Ipad.
I just wounder how meny more they would have sold if Rim made Harvey Norman push them like HP did (well at least for 4 days ) before they thook them of the shelf and said RIP to there webos devision.
"Considering Harvey Norman are not even trying to sell them every store I have been to just seem to have one hidden behind glass untill the last couple of weeks." Well you clearly have not visited the Harvey Norman at Moore Park (where I happen to work). The staff here all know and promote the Playbook.
Not once did we have "really big stands set up with at lest 12 touchpads you could play with and employees telling every one that walk past that you have to cheeck these out thay are the best you see it runs on webos witch is custom made to for tablets!!!" We do, however, have a constantly working display of a variety of tablets, including the Playbook, Xoom, EeePad Slate and Transformer, Toshiba's tablet and even the Acer Iconia series of tablets.
If you had even looked at more than 2 stores you would realise that the Playbook is not the easiest thing to "secure", and so as to prevent theft from ocurring some stores have been forced to keep the device in cabinents or worse still, not put the device on display at all. If thieves didn't exist, the stores in question would have had the Playbook on display already.
Harvey Norman is a PC based computing store, you aren't extremely likely to find an "iFanboy" anywhere in the store (although our store has one), and the vast majority of Harvey Norman staff knew the Touchpad was a failure from the launch date. We spend a LOT of after hours time keeping up to date with technology, so as to know what to recommend to our customers and what not to. If anything, we have more "fanDroids" throughout Harvey Norman. Each staff member is clearly going to promote the device they like the best.
I would just like to make it known that I personally am flying the RIMPIRE flag at my store and EVERY person who came in today for a Touchpad (after yesterday's firesale) was treated to an in depth discussion as to why the Playbook was better for them... :) And our store is always needing to replenish stock as we are constantly selling out... :D
Hay mate you a right I have not been to your store and it dose sound like a lot better news there. I have been to Broadmeadows harvey norman as well as high point, sunshine and watergardens HN. And they could all do a better job. Those tables you are talking about have only started to show up in the last two weeks. And last week there was a 2nd table at highpoint and all the staff where pushing HP witch I don't mind!! Just saying its good that they are selling more then they expected I am just woundering how meny more they could sell if rim pushed HN a bit more. Anyway good job and I will come and see you tomorrow if you can sell me a 16gb for $400!!
Oh and I am not having a go HN or the people that work there just stating my expreince wish is also just at bad at most other places witch I found out when buying a new TV recently (but that is anoughter story) but you do sometime find nogiable and attentive staff wish is allways refreshing.
If you can find one for $400 then i assure you it is not legitimate (or it's just someone trying to palm it off)... I know the cost price on these tablets and since no one else can legally sell them, I also know that no one else can get them cheaper... But please reply to this with a link to where you saw them for that price, I honestly want to check that out... :)
No I was just being a little cheeky and hoping for a really good bargin!!! I never really thought you would meet that price ( just hoping oh well).
Well if you know anyone who is looking for a Playbook in the Sydney area, get them to come into the Moore Park Harvey Norman and ask for me (Paul)... Mention this post or the name littleruby and i'll give you no less than 10% off... Sound good? :) Always happy to help out a fellow Crackberry fan...
Not one bit surprised..the world is not on the apple band wagon...just the stupid americans....GO RIM....RIM OWNS THE WORLD....apple jus has a lil US power thats all......goooooooo rim
Steve Jobs "7 inch tablets are DOA" hahaha....will Apple sue RIM? now that the playbook is selling well?
I hope QNX 2.0 fixes some of the problems. Here comes the compusalt (compliment and Insult). I like the connectivity with my BB, but the podcasts are all but impossible to delete after I watch/listen to them. I have to restart it to delete one podcast, very frustrating!!!
The US is an "i-(put a moniker here)" country. i-this, i-that.... unfortunately, many "reviews" and "reviewers" are suckered in by Apple's marketing and gadgetry. Notice the commercial: "If you don't have an "iPhone", you don't have the I-Store, if you don't have the i-Store, you don't have a gazillion apps" - notice there's never mention of it primarily being a phone or communication device?? ... well you get the message. Even more unfortunate is that many people in the US (as elsewhere) fall for marketing ploys and tricks.
Microsoft built their empire on gismotry and flashy flair without delivering (remember the "Start-it-up" marketing "coup" for Windows 95??) and sold billions $$ of their product (I worked at a computer shop and had customers wanting to buy the "Start-it-up" product without realizing it was an operating system for a computer) ... Apple is doing the same with their i-"line-up".... now just wait for Google to pick up the pace.
People seek simplicity in their lives and marketers (companies) are all-too-happy to oblige and make a profitable killing.
Many ppl in other countries don't fall for marketing gimmicks as quickly and seek out true functionality over "style" or "popularity" (not saying all, but many do).
It's not really surprising that RIM products sell better outside of North America than they do here.
+1
I think the only good reviews have come out of Australia....And for some reason, even if the revier thinks the Ipad has a slight edge, they recomend still buying the playbook over the Ipad.
where did you see it?? I searched over the web (just the first page of google) and the only thing I found was "I would not recomend the PlayBook over the iPad", I want to see a goog review like the ones you say, could you post the link?
Read one today actually. It was on the first page of google.
http://www.cnet.com.au/apple-ipad-and-blackberry-playbook-a-comparison-3...
Other than that, I read others over the last couple months.
I have to admit, they're not on good reviews, but my point was that it seems if there is a good review lately, it most likely came from Australia.
oops
get rid of some bugs and get us native PIM apps and it'll be a real contender. the larger third party apps will come in time. Until then, it's a decent web browser with some media capability and that's about it.
If Australia has a hard time getting anymore back stock of the Playbook, they can always raid the US stockpile.
Loving my playbook.
Good for RIM.
Playbook will do well for the same reason blackberry's do well. Business class / government dig em.
Dropped the ipad for pb no regrets yet. Now The 9930 keeps taunting me about my phone of choice.
*taunt taunt taunt*
9930 : "You know you want me; I can do it all for you baby"
I prefer "Blackberry 9900.....it's over 9000! " Vegeta Reference.
You must be banned! LOL. j/k :P
Besides, if RIM went w/DBZ "enumeration," we'd be pushing the Bold 56,140-and-counting!
While none of us expect sales to meet or exceed that of the Ipad, I think the real measure of success for the playbook is that it sells a sufficient amount for it to be both profitable for RIM and drive them to further improve/ support the product in future software/hardware iterations.
It’s funny with all the movement with Google/Motorola and HP/WebOS that people seems to have forgotten that there is another tablet that seems to be quietly going along and doing ok.
The world media always seems to forget about RIM even thought they seem to have weathered the tablet wars better than companies like HP...
They said that the playbooks 500k units shipped was bad.... guess it was way better than HP's 25k sold.... its too bad really because the WebOS looked like it would have been a contender if HP didn't leave it blowing in the wind by itself....
Sounds like the Australians judge a product on it's merits, rather than it's media coverage. Also, maybe unlike Best Buy, this Harvey Norman might keep their displays running and their employees trained on the products.
Good to hear.
I haven't seen a Playbook down here in Mexico yet and have seen a lot of iPads on the go. But is easier to get an iPad than a Playbook. Only some carriers and some deparment stores are selling the PlayBook. I guess thats the problem.
Telcel is doing a great job if you ask me, they offer a playbook with your 8520, pretty decent if you consider that all the kids around here wants to chat on BBM. I have yet to see another playbook. Off course I have one. Posted from my plabook in Guadalajara, JAL.
Hey, if I buy a Playbook in the U.S. for my dad in Mexico will he be able to use it?
I got one for my wife, one for my mother in law and one for myself and we all love it.
We love the video chat, size and sound quality and would like to know if I got one for my dad if he could use it in Mexico.
I have been a BB fan for a long time but my wife was skeptical as an apple user. However, after seeing all the cool stuff it can do and enjoying the portability, she loves it.
Thanks.
Yes Sir... I have tested my playbook video chat with people in canada and USA.. I bought it in Texas and use it in Mexico... no problems at all
I also haven't seen one (besides mine and in-store) here in Monterrey, but a friend knows someone who also has it, and my uncle got impressed when I show him my PlayBook, many people buy iPads because or they don't know other tablets or hasn't really tried it. PlayBook FTW!!!
Hola!
I do have seen PlayBooks around here in Mex City than expected and I´m glad about that.
More and more retailers are selling the PB: Sears, Office Max, Best Buy, Telmex, Telcel, Palacio de Hierro just to mention some.
Sales are slow but growing, people are still waiting for the Android Player to come.
In fact about BlackBerry general speaking, today I just read and article titled "Why LatAm loves BlackBerry" and they mentioned that Euromonitor International firm said that last year for every iPhone sold 4 BlackBerry devices were sold! Yeah, this is pure love to BlackBerry.
This is the link, spanish text, sorry, I couldn´t find the English version but you can translate it with your preferred tool: http://blog.euromonitor.com/2011/08/por-qu%C3%A9-am%C3%A9rica-latina-ama...
I´m sure it´s a matter of time for the RIMPIRE to strike back again!
Really? Didn't you know that the Playbook is available at: Sanborns, Telcel, Iusacell, Palacio de Hierro, Office Max, Telmex, Sears and Best Buy? The only competitive carrier left to get it is Movistar. BTW Anyone else is missing th Bold 9900 here on Mexico? Or Just Me?
Saludos
Been using mine every day in public for the past two months. Look for me. I'm in the marina in Cabo. I'm the guy with the Playbook....
Double post
SWEEEEET!
This is great! Now the US just needs to jump on board a little more. Hopefully the new phones will help as well.
it's nice to see the playbook doing so well for once! Keep up the fight RIM :)