Jim Balsillie, the co-CEO of Research in Motion has said that the BlackBerry PlayBook will be “competitively” priced and will cost under $500 and we know that by 'under' he means a fraction under. I'm thinking, oh I don't know something like say $499 the price of the bottom end iPad.
How the same price or a few dollars less is competitive I don't know. But there's no set figure yet. Maybe RIM will surprise and dish the thing out at $350/$400.
In an interview in Seoul, Balsillie stated that RIM’s 7-inch PlayBook tablet will arrive in the first quarter of 2011 and will then be launched globally in second quarter.
We all know what Steve Jobs’ thinks of devices like the PlayBook; “dead on arrival" he said. Balsillie hit back, stating that consumers are getting tired of Apple’s controlling business strategy. There's some truth in what both parties are saying but I guess we'll see who's victorious next year.
The price could be vital in the sale of the PlayBook so when a final figure is settled let's hope for RIM's sake its well thought out and actually, 'competitive.'
Remember though IPad 2 could be on its way with a battalion of Android tablets behind it and perhaps HP-Palm will introduce a HP WebOS running tablet by then. You think the tablet battles in full swing? It's only just begun.
Source: techtree