If you're looking for any sort of numbers regarding BlackBerry PlayBook sales then you should be looking in the direction Mike Abramsky, General Manager at RBC Capital Markets. According to Abramsky, RIM has sold approximately 250,000 units since it's retail launch back on April 19. If these numbers are in anyway accurate that means the BlackBerry PlayBook has had faster adoption then that of the Motorola Xoom and if sales continue as estimated by Abramsky, then RIM will have sold 500,000 PlayBooks in the first quarter and a total of 3 million units in 2011.
So what does all this mean for BlackBerry PlayBook buyers, owners? Well first off, you're proving all the pundits wrong -- people REALLY do want a 7" tablet and the numbers are proving it. Secondly, despite all the harsh reviews and lame comments about a power button that many folks don't even use -- RIM is doing just fine with the BlackBerry PlayBook. And finally, we can all look forward to more developers hopping on board to work on the BlackBerry PlayBook and help make the BlackBerry eco system better as a whole.
Even if the numbers here are little off, as they often times can be -- that doesn't take away from the fact the outlook for the BlackBerry PlayBook and RIM has now changed if, only even slightly. Realistically, I'm not a numbers guy -- nor do I pretend to be but I do know the potential is there for RIM to make even greater penetration in the tablet space. They've got a good run out of the gates, and now they need to keep that momentum going.
Source: Business Insider
Reader comments
RIM sells through 250,000 BlackBerry PlayBooks according to RBC
What am I waiting for?
- 4G (or even 3G)
- My FT500 company to support Appworld or Bridge
Till RIM convinces the big end of town to install Bridge, RIM loses sales to the darkside.
If I can use it for work and home I can live with the lack of apps, otherwise...
A solid sales number for the 1st month...The PlayBook is a great product. It's portability and QNX OS are real advantages going forward. I have had absolutely no problems with my 32GB...fast, great battery life and screen resolution.
A lot of people are waiting to see how email in implemented. Others are waiting for big name apps to be developed. Others are waiting for Android apps. Others are waiting for 4g. Others are waiting for 10 inches. Others are waiting for finances. Others live in other countries and are waiting for it's release. And then there are businesses that are field testing the PlayBook before they make bulk purchases.
The PlayBook should keep steady sales figures and possibly even grow over time. I think RIM decided not to advertise until after it was released for this reason. Steady sales are better than selling out on day one and having customers decide to pick up another tablet because the one they wanted was sold out.
I am impatiently waiting for the 4G model.
Hopefully RIM will observe that just now Staples has started offering the Acer Iconia Honeycomb (Android 3.0) mobile tablet, 10.1" Dual Core 1G w/32GB for 499 (599 w/ keyboard). Let's go, price/feature match! It's gonna suck in a few takers.
And yes, the advertising presence is starting to be more evident and noticeable... If RIM sends me a 64GB I'll gladly demo the snot out of it!(okay, any PB will do).
And some are waiting impatiently for the 4G launch.
Something to note is these numbers should not be compared to iPad2 first-month launch numbers. Because iPad2 was released worldwide in the same month. (March 11 in U.S. and worldwide March 25th). Even still, it won't outsell the iPad and it doesn't need to. It needs to be a top pick for sure. Being second is not anything to scoff at in the tech industry. By this reasoning a Macbook notebook computer is a failure because it does not sell as many units as Dell/HP branded notebooks. But even though Macbooks are not the #1 selling notebook, they are still immensely successful.
First!!!...er...oh wait.......I would like to win!!!.....oh damn.......
It's good for playbook to do well and I'm sure RIM stockholders would love iPad numbers, but I'm turned off by Apple precisely because so many people have it. I don't want to be defined as a me too person.
Nothing comparable to iPad sales, but REALLY GOOD data for RIM. I'm happy to hear it and can't wait to get one. Developers are gonna go wild on this little boy.
Obtaining iPad-like numbers are a gigantic mountain to climb. But in reality the PlayBook doesn't need anywhere near those kinds of numbers to be viewed as a success by analysts and investors.
Actually the Playbook doesn't need to anywhere near those kinds of numbers to be viewed as a success by ME! Who cares what analysts think? As long as I am am happy with my PB, I could care less. No disrespect to you q649........
exactly! they know they're not going to throw up apple like numbers, but them beating out all the others to be put in 2nd place is awesome, RIM is THE most bashed mobile company, yet they killed everyones expectionations!
I suspect they will do VERY well with this in the first quarter judging by all the commercial's I've seen on just about every channel. I don't watch a lot of TV but last night I was switching back and forth between a movie on AMC and the Vancouver/San Jose Hockey Semi-Finals on CBC and the News on CTV and lost track beyond 15 times over the course of about 3 hours. They were on every channel. Yesterday, sitting in the Air Canada lounge on the big screen waiting for my flight for about 45 minutes, I saw it three times on TSN. Even my 70+ year old parents are asking me about it. They are running some very good commercials (Flash seemed to be getting the most airplay yesterday but I must admit, I like the Telus birds one the best).
Then you have people like me who want a Playbook but haven't purchased yet due to lack of funding. I'll bet there are still a good number that are waiting (as well as those simply holding out because they dont like to be early adapters, just waiting for the minor kinks to be ironed out.
I think it's going to do fine, but they can't stop. They've got to keep pushing like their lives depended on it.
We're in the same boat. I bet there are thousands of people like us, too. But I still feel like RIM coulda market this thing better. Can you say air time during the Finals? :P
I agree, but also I can't get the PB at any retail stores where I live they are sold out in stores. I live in a huge top 10 US city. I can order online and wait for it to be shipped, but I cannot pick one up today at any local store here in the Valley. Hence, no PB yet for me. :(
I think those numbers of 250K are low. If retail stores can't keep stock on hand for a North American market....and businesses haven't placed the huge orders yet (these orders are all individuals) then no one can doubt PB's success.
Ipad's claim to fame has always been individual consumers and RIM's bread and butter has always been the business customer. If the PB's numbers are based on individual consumer buyers and not businesses then when the business buyers adapt the PB......:)
No matter how well the PB sells whether it is number of units, place in market, or total % of market immature, myopic people will never admit RIM's success and deserving of respect in this market.
When I picked up my first BB I fell in love (it was a Pearl and limited as it was) and I have had 3 since then. I don't want a toy, I am a logical, data driven, need info fast type of person.
Awesome!
I'm glad this got front page coverage, i was happy when i found out and posted it on the forums right away.
playbook can sell more than, if only reviews are fair.
it's not fair??? You sound like lazardis.
You know what isnt fait? That in a few month's you wil be bying a "top of the line " Rim phone ,wich will be obsolete in 2012 and wont support qnx os on your phone because rim is to cheap to put a dual core in a BOLD right now and wants to wait till next year.
That kind off RIM-ming of the loyal BB drones isnt fair.
Like all computer/electronics you buy what you need today because tomorrow its twice as fast at half the price.
TV's are a good example.
This is a concern held by many people. But you're making a pretty big leap based only on a single comment made by Mike L. Of course QNX will be a better experience on a dual core CPU. This doesn't indicate 100% that QNX will not run on the Bold Touch, unless you or someone else can point out to me proof otherwise. QNX doesn't have any problems running on a single CPU.
If you don't like the Bold Touch, you don't have to buy it. I can only assume that you've recently purchased the Atrix or another dual core Android phone, cause there isn't a dual-core Apple phone available yet.
QNX by its very nature is a very scalable OS and runs most efficiently in multiple cores. The more cores the better for QNX. A quad core 500MHz would outperform a dual core 1GHz. QNX works by message passing, and a kernel actually runs in each core. QNX is completely transparent to how many cores are running, it just passes the messages to whichever core is available and it runs the process. Now while QNX does not NEED more than one core to run, the fact that it's being currently developed on a 1GHz dual core would really set this as the future minimum requirement. Otherwise you could hinder future user experiences who buy apps for their single core phone that were designed for a dual core and they don't run very well.
But temporary short-term devices are normal. I don't hear many Apple consumers complaining that their new iDevice will be outdated in a year, and it's not fair. Even worse for people buying their product around xmas time and it will be 'outdated' in a few months. Car owners go through the same thing. Buy a 2011 BMW 3-series right now and it will be 'outdated' by next year when the restyled 2012 models are out. That how the industry works.
Well in all honesty ,a ipone 3gs abeit the screen resolution isnt quite outdated and still gets the latest software updates. My point is ,apple atleast makes their phones abit future proof. When they coem out they are not the top of the line ,like htc or samsung top liners. But there still up there, most of the time with some features the others dont have yet (compass, gyro-sensors etc.)
Rimm bring phones wich are ,not only outdated when they coem out , but also absolete the next year. What kind of service is that? Why cant my bolt 9700 browse properly still. After all the dam os6 hype that went on here o ncrackberry ,and its faboulus webkit browser it supposedly had....
Now that it turns out it sucks ,all the fanboys are screamign that the 9700 was never supposed to run os6. So there goes your qnx scalable argument. I'm sure RIM will scale it down to suit the bold 9900 touch. But it will be crap like os6 on 9700.
And that isnt fair. Atleast with a aterix ,desire hd or galaxy 2 ,you are not the laughing stock of the mobile phone world. With a 9700 you are. And rim only had to put a bit faster prc and more memory and none of these problems with os6 would have been there. But they brought out an technicly inferiour product ,sold it for the highest of money to all of us. And I mention the 9700 ,but the same goes for the torch hand ofcourse storm 2 ,and 9780.
They need to step it up or give it up.
Ever think that RIM can't afford to throw an expensive dual core chip in the Bold at this time if it still wants to have investors in 2012? It's not all about throwing the best hardware in a phone, it's sometimes about making a phone profitable so your investors are happy as well as your customers. These 1.2ghz phones coming out will keep most people happy during this transition time while RIM just tries to make it until QNX is available for their phones.
Also, it's actually good business to get these phones out now. Their hardware is very solid and fast for now. By the time the new QNX phones come out, people who bought phones earlier this year will be due for an upgrade while the people who buy these next phones will either buy the new QNX phones at full price, or they will wait until they have an upgrade and buy the new phone then. Either way, it's good business to keep your customers buying phones. It may suck for customers, but to be honest, it's time to buy a new phone after a year and a half anyways.
.I'm a blackberry connoisseur . but I'm waiting till they knock out all the kinks in PB1 till i purchase it. first gen products are like beta testing software. only good for a short period of time then the real deal comes out. There is too many things still in development to sell me on the first version. Once RIM has the complete package underway.. (which they will soon enough) I will for sure acquire one of these... plus I would love to see it in more color options then just black. Yeah there are the cases that allow you to customize its appearance. but i feel that black just blends in.. what happenEd to that gnarly blue they previewed last year?!!!? they where on to something there with that one... But I love the QNX THE FLASH THE SIZE AND THE POWER, The ergonomics and functionality needs to be tweaked!.
The good thing about the PlayBook is that the hardware is not flawed at all. It's the software that is very "First Generation" but that will improve over time. I understand that people want to wait for the 2nd generation of a device, but I don't think that is necessary with the PlayBook.
Mike has no clue as to what he is talking about. Only last month has he admitted that he is "ALL WRONG" about RIM. Mike's head is spinning. He has no clue as to how powerful RIM really is. His estimate is WAY OFF. Sales in the first month is closer to 422,300 PlayBooks sold.
Mike checks in with a number of Best Buy locations, then comes up with an estimate. LOL. What a pathetic way of calculating sales. The blinders are on big time. And he gets a pay cheque? Please. Somebody. Take that pay cheque away from him. He might spend it wrong. He is so wrong about RIM.
Now. With the launch of RIM devices in China, watch the tally soar. Chinese people love small sexy electronics. And they love swiping. No home key to worry about on the PlayBook !!! The home key is 'OLD HAT'.
"Word of Mouth" is spreading around as to how great the PlayBook really is. Consumers have a mind of their own, and are ignoring the tainted reviews. The PlayBook is going to be a big time winner !!
+1 million times :)
Slam dunk comment, couldn't agree more! Mike needs to step on the gas. The company has been suffering under his guidance. He needs to get more aggressive with his production strategy. So far, he's been under the impression that RIM is the "elephant in the room" but it looks more like a mule instead. Hopefully he'll see this blatant truth and give the control to someone that can see the potential and take RIM into the a foreseeable future.
OP is talking about a different Mike... Mike from RBC.
and may I ask where you got the 422k sold devices from?
thats what i want to know too!
Me too. Actually I hope your tally of 400,000 + is correct. I want the Blackberry Playbook to be very successful!
That's what i want to know too :)
I would also love to know where you got the estimate of 422,300. Not that you are right or wrong, but very curious!
I'm curious as to how he knows the Chinese people so well? They love small, sexy things? They love to swipe?
Can't believe he didn't tell us they love math, too. lol.
You're right. In fact, a study was done in the US and found that Asian Americans are the largest users of the iPhone in the US. I don't have a link but this study was released a month or two ago so it's a recent study.
lmao...I'm Chinese.
And Yes We love wiping after and during a lot of things.
I wipe after sitting on toilet
I wipe my fingers after i wipe my friends' oily iphone screen.
Anyway your comment is great :p
People here in Taiwan can't wait to have Playbook in ours hands!!
I remember when iPad first released, a lot of people were waiting to see its fail, but they all have an ipad now...
let's see what will happen after PB starts to sell in all countries!!
I mean no disrespect with this comment, but chinese people have smaller hands than Americans (as a whole). So, based on no studies or evidence, I would have to assume that the Chinese (or Asians in general) would be interested in the PlayBook as opposed to the iPad and Xoom because of it's size.
Hey, I could be wrong though....
I think you're right though...I was just kidding hope you didn't get it wrong :) I'm ESL you know XD
People in China, Hon Kong,or Taiwan sometimes have same taste, whenever something gets hot everyone just wants one.
It is really narrow sighted for us..sad though
actually how Asian people love a product sometims all depends on how hard they marketing the product, most of them just follow most of the people...oh well...
I really hope playbook can release in Asia ASAP though... HTC's new tablet is coming out and ready to spend a lot of money to do advertisement before end of May...
I think you may be a little over the top, but your take or Mike's it's all good. All RIM needs is a respectable start so the media can't declare the device a failure. Once we get past that then people will begin to see the powerhouse product this is.
I've read the speculation that RIM is producing a 10 inch, good for those that want is but I am telling you 7 inch is perfect in fact my hope for the next version is reduce bezel size a bit all round so it fits in even more pockets!
Good News!!!
I'm even starting to hear people wanting to try it out and wanting to buy it... whereas when it was on pre-sale people didnt even hear about it
smooth...
i knew it!
Good for RIM!