RIM discounts Blackberry PlayBook in US

Research In Motion has launched yet another sale on its PlayBook tablet in the US, selling discounted versions of the device for $300.

The discount applies at RIM’s online outlet and participating retailers, which include Wal-Mart, Radio Shack and Best Buy.

However, while $300 represents a substantial knockdown of list prices for the 32Gb ($599) and 64Gb ($699) models, it represents a price increase for the 16Gb models, which have been selling in some places for as low as $199.

Even at $300, a buyer may not find the PlayBook much of a bargain. It has little app support, no personal information manager or e-mail, and it only supports Wi-Fi, the latter two being cardinal errors for any prospective business device.

Although the PlayBook had promising sales when it was introduced in 2011 – it sold 500,000 units during its first three months on the market – sales have been downhill ever since.

Last September, Best Buy clipped $100 off every model in the line. In October, RIM offered a two for one sale on the devices. Neither offer, however, yielded any discernable improvement in sales, however. As a result, in December RIM wrote off the whole PlayBook experiment and took a charge on its books for its entire tablet inventory, some 970,000 units worth $485 million.

RIM isn’t the only tablet maker trying to move inventory after Christmas. Sony has pared the price of its Tablet S slate. The 16Gb model ($500) is now selling for $400 and the 32Gb model ($600) is $500. Those prices are $100 below comparable iPad tablets.

IDG News Service

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