News: Price cut for the PlayBook

In a move that is being labelled ‘bizarre’ Research in Motion this week announced that its tablet hopeful, the PlayBook, will receive a price cut across the board for all its models, according to the International Business Times.

The bizarre part of the story is that the 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB models will now cost the same, at least in the US.

At $299 (R2400), this is a significant reduction, particularly for the 32 GB and 64 GB versions, which previously carried price-tags of $599 (R4800) and $699 (R5600) respectively, while the 16 GB version entered the market at $499 (R4000).

Strangely enough, this means that users who want to invest in the PlayBook would now find themselves paying the same amount for the 16 GB version as they would for one boasting four times the storage space.

Smoke before the 'firesale'?

International Business Times asserted that the rather dramatic move could well indicate the beginning of a 'firesale' for RIM’s tablet contender, as was employed by HP after its TouchPad failed to move significant volumes.

One of the drawbacks that plagued RIM’s tablet was that users had to tether the device to their BlackBerry phone if they wanted to send and receive email, access their contacts or browse the internet on the tablet.

This is particularly strange for a company which had become popular for the strength of its email offering on its BlackBerry devices. Despite this, the PlayBook still has its merits – namely an interface that impressed us enough to earn it a place in our top five tablets of 2011.

The lack of email integration in the tablet is intended to be one of the issues addressed by the PlayBook OS 2.0 update, which was delayed until February this year. If this essentially fixes the PlayBook, the new price could then actually make the tablet a good deal, for those who find the heavier price of the iPad out of their reach.

To the point

The problem is that even at the $299 pricepoint, the Playbook nonetheless has stiff competition from the likes of Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet, which is $100 cheaper. In its favour though, at least locally, is the strength of the brand as well as proliferation of the number of BlackBerry users in South Africa.

Whether this will be enough to turn RIM’s fortunes around in 2012, and breathe new life into the PlayBook tablet remains to be seen.

In recent news, rumours has it that RIM’s co-chief executive officers, Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, may be stripped of their shared role of chairman of the board.

Price cut for the PlayBook

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