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First day BlackBerry PlayBook sales estimated to be 50,000
Waterloo-based Research In Motion launched the BlackBerry PlayBook yesterday in Canada and the United States. This tablet was practically available in every retailer possibly plus also available for the past couple weeks on pre-order. So how did first day sales go? RIM hasn’t announced official results but RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky says “the launch appears to have been stronger than the launch of Motorola’s Xoom (Android) Tablet, or the Samsung Galaxy Tab, although it’s too early to judge sustainability”.
As for specific number Abramsky estimated that a combined total of 50,000 PlayBooks were sold on the first day, this includes those who pre-ordered. In addition, he also went on to say that he expects RIM to ship 500,000 in its first quarter.
Were you one of the 50,000 that purchased a PlayBook?
(Enter our contest to win one here)
Source: Financial Post
Via: BGR
Discussion
53 comments for “First day BlackBerry PlayBook sales estimated to be 50,000”
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Wow, that put the xoom to shame…
Still waiting for the EEE Pad Transformer to be available for Canadian preorder 
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Xoom was only sold with a data plan from Verizon at launch, so numbers are not comparable.
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zorxd: That is not accurate. The Xoom could be purchased from the first day without a data plan. I know; I bought one at the Verizon store on release day.
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Yes but you still had to pay for the EVDO radio (and the future LTE radio) that you will never use. That added, I think, $200 to the cost of the Xoom. That’s expensive.
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Motorola Xoom – $799
Blackberry Playbook – $499
Price difference: $300
It’s no mystery that there will be more Playbooks sold compared to Xooms. Toyota sure sells more cars compared to Mercedes.
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I’m waiting for the second generation Android Tablets to arrive probably around the time of 3.1 and hopefully lower price points. Thats when my home will get into the tablet world.
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This is 1/6 of iPad2′s initial sales (300,000) which is impressive for a first-time launch. If RIM takes a long-term (as in 3 month) strategy, when slow and steady will win the race against android’s tablet.
Nice work on RIM’s part (despite losing a chief marketing officer a few months back).
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Picked mine up at 7am yesterday, didn’t get to play with it much during the work day. But when I got home at 5pm, I didn’t put it down until 10pm. Very happy with the purchase, and despite the lack of a native e-mail client, it’s an amazing device.
I actually really like the bluetooth pairing with my Torch, that way I can access my contacts, calendar, and e-mails without any synching issues. So even when the native apps show up, I’ll likely keep using the bridge function because it keeps everything in one place.
Good job RIM.
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You know that you can share your contacts, calendar and email between an Android Tablet and an Android phone without having to sync, and without the need for a “bridge”, right?
Clearly this bridge is NOT a feature. It adds nothing over what can already be done with the competition.
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Android will be slow in gaining corporate acceptance where RIM is already there, I don’t like the idea of Bridge, because when your blackberry battery is dead you can’t even look through your downloaded emails on the playbook. Its a good start but they better hurry to get the fully baked software out in the market.
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Typing from my Playbook. This is such a wonderful machine to have. It has the perfect form factor for portability and great hardware spec. i have found enough free apps. As time goes on, it will have more apps, so it is a bonus.
I can see why Blackberry phone owners would want the Playbook as they can tether and get extra functionality.
Some might say it hasn’t got the native email and it is being rushed out. I don’t agree with that assessment. Time to market is important. Playbook is perfect for BB users and corporate users. For consumers, they know the Playbook is a powerful platForm to do multiple tasks, and native email app will come soon enough. Like me, I need something portable but not wanting to get a netbook as Windows chews up all the resources and results in a very sluggish netbook. Playbook is perfect to meet my need.
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Blackberry owners need to get a Playbook if they want a tablet as it’s the only tablet that can tether through their smartphone.
However, Android and iPhone owners can get ANY tablet because they have the Wifi hotspot feature.
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beavertail2, you should also mention to the people on this forum that you are a RIM employee.. shame on you for the marketing plug
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This is incorrect if you are willing to use your phone as a WiFi hotspot. A Torch can act as a WiFi hotspot – at which point any device can connect to it over WiFi and begin tethering data (including other phones, tablets, laptops).
So this is not the reason a BB owner should get a PB. The reason anybody should get a PB, is because of its sheer power. True multitasking/1080p Flash support/HDMI output/Notification System/QNX/cameras, and guaranteed updates/support as it is a new platform for future use (think future BB’s).
And don’t forget, the limitations on this platform will be much less than current OS’s. Emerging platforms are much more flexible with rules (until after they become superpowers of course, think Android).
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Sorry to correct my above post, WiFi hotspot is NOT available by default OOB standalone with just the BB, thought I would clarify this… I just wanted to mention that there are other (albeit weird) ways of using WiFi to get things up and running.
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Shill.
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I played with one at a Future Shop yesterday. I have to say it was way better than I expected. Very smooth, task switching is easy. Didn’t think RIM could put out a decent device. As soon as they update this to allow android apps and get rid of the bridge thing I would consider buying it.
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why in the world would you want them to get rid of the bridge function?
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has anyone luck to install skype on playbook
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I was the first person to own one in fort mcmurray. I picked it up bright and early at the wirelesswave in peter pond mall.
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Considering all the bad reviews, this is impressive. I don’t know how they pulled it off, but good for them. I mean, to beat Xoom is a big deal. But the price is cheaper, so that may be a huge factor for some people. For me it’s not, especially since I don’t have a BB smartphone to go with it. Can’t wait to hear how well it does on day two.
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It really isn’t a very big deal beating the Xoom. As stated before, Xoom is only available at a handful of retailers, this was selling everywhere. A big deal would be beating Ipad sales…
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I love my PlayBook!!
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I may have one on you Dudeguy. I was at Staples in Fiort McMurray at 6:59 am and I got it in my hands 2 minutes after…On another note…GREAT DEVICE!!!!!!
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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Scared Patrick?
Regardless of the bleating of the Jobs Adherents (“DOA! DOA!) and all the negative materials coming from SanFran et al, the Playbook is still a compelling device that will stay in the market for a good while and eat some marketshare.
It is the first of the QNX-powered devices from RIM which should be good for competition and consumers.
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So you don’t like Playbook. Good for you. But I can’t understand why you even reading this post if you’re so in love with IPad. Isn’t there any IPad posts you can go visit. Please don’t waste peoples time.
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The #1 Reason that Ipad will always win that everyone is forgetting is PIRACY!! Everyone forgets that! You can jail break a Ipad in 30 seconds and load it up with Flash and crap and dont pay a penny once it opened up.
The only reason Apple is doing good is its products are not secure and people dont care! If it was a closed system like Rim it would suffer. I dont think you will ever see a jail broken Playbook.
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People are clearly mis-informed about the playbook…it can theater with ANY phone…the bridge feature just allows you to display your email etc from your BlackBerry which is an additional features that no iphone or Android phones have..
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Well of course the Playbook can tether with any phone… as long as you have the wifi hotspot feature.
The problem is that you can’t tether any tablet with a blackberry phone.
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Plus it is not an “additional feature” since it doesn’t do any thing that you can’t do on other platforms.
Why would I want to display the emails from my blackberry when I can instead display my emails from my exchange/gmail/imap server, exactly as I do on my PC?
Would you want to plug your blackberry everytime you want to check your emails on your PC? Of course not.
I don’t understand why anyone would want to do this with a tablet.
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any phone capable of bluetooth tethering can be used, regardless of whether the phone has wifi or not
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@zorxd yes I see your point that iPhone and android users can connect to any device. But I read somewhere that using your device as a hotspot/MiFi is going to cost you extra $$$. Is that correct?
With the PlayBook and bridge feature I can browse the internet without paying any tethering fees. Also the flash functions pretty nicely. For people with young kids and all those flash based sites and games they play the PlayBook or Xoom is a better buy.
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No it’s not correct. In both cases you need a data plan on your phone.
I do it and I never paid any tethering fee.
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Exactly as Xorxd said, as long as you have data on your plan (within canada that is) be it 1gb, 3gb, 6gb WHATEVER, you can tether your Android or Iphone no problem (with up to 8 devices on Android, not sure about Iphone). One of the many features Blackberry’s are sorely lacking
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The camera can’t even do autofocus!! Who would’ve thought about that? A modern 5mp camera on a $500 device with no autofocus!!!
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See this is exactly what I’m talking about. iPad2 has a $520 device that doesn’t have autofocus and is rated in the sub megapixel range.
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I don’t know where RIM earned all this negitivity. People keep spouting the same misinformed junk over and over.
I think RIM would have been best off by simply being honest and saying. We’re releasing a tablet for our customer base and will upgrade it for everyone else in time.
Couldn’t of hurt there stock more than than it’s been now.
I own one because…
Playbook can tether with any phone that supports bluetooth pairing, and I don’t have to pay for an extra dataplan to do it.
I can wirelessly transfer media files to it, and they don’t need to be in a specific format to play back.
It fits in my jacket pocket so it goes everywhere with me. Because I need data access everywhere I go.
I don’t want my personal information to remain on the device when it’s out of range.
The websites I visit still use flash, and have no plan of converting to something the iPad can access anytime soon.
Also I don’t know if the evaluation units were different, but I’ve never had any issues with the power button. I just push it with the flat of my finger and off goes the device.
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“Playbook can tether with any phone that supports bluetooth pairing”
Good. But that’s still inferior on every point to wifi hotspot. Bluetooth isn’t even fast enough for today’s HSPA+ networks. With a wifi hotspot you can pair many devices at the same time. Not sure that you can do that with bluetooth. Also not all laptops have bluetooth but they all have wifi.
Bluetooth is also less convenient to setup for most users.
“and I don’t have to pay for an extra dataplan to do it”
Yes you do. You need a dataplan on your blackberry. You don’t get free data with the playbook.
It works the same way for every device.
“I can wirelessly transfer media files to it”
Just like to any tablet.
” and they don’t need to be in a specific format to play back.”
Yes they do.
“I don’t want my personal information to remain on the device when it’s out of range.”
Then just don’t leave any personal information in your tablet. You can do that with any tablet. Make sure you don’t leave any personal information in your Blackberry too however…
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Man you must be a grumpy sob zorxd to come rip on the Playbook in a story that tells how they’ve beaten expectations.
If users want to pair a playbook to a mifi connection on an android they can do that too. If they want to access at HSPA+ speeds they have to wait same a xoom users. Bluetooth setup on the Playbook involves pointing the camera of your phone at the playbook screen. You can pair multiple devices. Speed is more than I need, simply having 24Mb speeds available doesn’t mean your webpage is going to open any faster.
You don’t need an extra dataplan, exactly as I said. You have one on your blackberry already, with the 4G Xoom, Tab, and 3g Ipad2 you need an extra dataplan.
Again you argue just to argue. You can not wirelessly transfer music or videos to your iPad, it needs to be connected to iTunes for that. You can use dropbox for Documents, but it’s not free. The playbook plays most commonly used file formats, not just the ones ok’d by Apple. I can play Xvid, DivX, without the need to convert them to an apple friendly format. mkv are not supported by any tablet I know of, and never will be by apple.
Yes, you could simply not use your tablet for anything personal or you could have a secure system that removes the information automatically from your device and allows you to remote wipe a phone based on it’s pin instead of installing an App which the thief could just remove.
It’s great you don’t like the playbook, but why do you have to come spread misinformation to those that do?
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If you don’t want a second data plan for your tablet, then get the wifi only version of the tablet. Are you trying to argue that the Playbook is a better choice because you are forced to get the Wifi only version? I hope not.
With my 7.2 Mbps HSDPA smartphone, I can get (when I am lucky) about 6 Mbps real world speed. Wifi is more than enough to sustain this speed.
Can you do that over bluetooth with your Playbook and your Blackberry? I don’t think so. You will be capped at maybe 2-3 Mbps or so. Maybe even less in real world. Is it the end of the world? No. But at least stop telling that bluetooth pairing is such as revolutionary feature. It isn’t. It’s a clear step backward from what was available before that.
Then I don’t know about the iPad, but I am sure that there are some Android tablets that can play MKV videos.
I have nothing against the Playbook. I’m sure it’s a great device. However it’s not a reasons for calling something a “feature” when it’s not. Come on, not having an email client is not a feature, get over it.
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Dissapointed in my playbook experience. Upon set up it dl ‘d the update and then bricked to boot screen. Left for 2 hours there thinking a long first boot. Then reset, then hard reset with vol butttons. Then let it die battery. Nothing ota bricked it. I also own the xoom and ipad 2 and despite 3.0 not being perfect I really like the layout, notifications and responsiveness. I don’t have launch a weather app.. I have a widget that tells me that. There is no comparison between xoom and ipad if you need quick info and multiple things going on. If you single task then ipad is ok. I mainly use it for a shared device that people useto check email when visiting. For my habits and use case ifind ios restrictive. Same withmy atrix vs iphone 4
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Got to play with one last night at their Launch Party in Vancouver. It’s a pretty awesome, light pad. I think that the fact that it can so seamlessly connect to your blackberry is definitely an advantage. The UI is very smooth and seamless, extremely easy to use.
It had a lot of really great features, the video on it is perfection. The fact that both cameras record at 1080p is nice too. I would definitely reccomend this for any person considering getting a pad, as it will soon have full support for andriod apps, definitely a plus.
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can you say P A T H E T I C?! lol 50,000?
there were probably 50,000 ipads sold in an hour!
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You can use the Playbook with any smartphone through tethering. But just like an iPad works with iPhone, so Playbook works with BB smartphone. Bridging is just bluetooth connectivity taken a little farther. Lots of nice features on this Playbook and since my wife has an iPad, I wanted the Playbook…full flash support and true multitasking capability. Picked mine up at BestBuy after my preordered one (from 3/22/11) was put on backorder but the local BestBuy had a 32gb one in stock. The only bad thing is that ATT is trying to block the bridge app. Bad move ATT!!
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Picked mine up last night. Very happy. Was worried about the smaller form factor but it has been great. The browser is exactly what I was looking for, no problems with flash. Great couch browser. The included games show great promise for what could be done with future apps. Just hope sales are good enough to warrant that app development. Native apps for facebook and e-mail would be nice but happy to play through the web for now.
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This thing is awesome. I don’t know why such mixed reviews. Look at the specs and what it can do. This is the best tablet I have had for surfing the net, and I have owned the ipad(1 not 2) and Galaxy. It’s just fast and works great. No lag, and no hang ups whatsoever. I’ve only had it for one day, but I can see myself taking this to a lot of places where I never took my ipad because of the size(as others have said it’s size compared to the ipad was a negative, I think it’s a huge positive). Okay, so the apps are not quite there yet, but I believe they will be very soon, it’s still not a huge disappointment for me because I can surf the whole web with flash and no lag, flash works great on this thing. Great device so far and I would highly recommend it right now(even if people say it’s in a half baked form), it’s only going to get better even though it’s great now.
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I’m surprised RIM managed to dupe that many people into buying a tablet with next to no tablet-specific apps available for it. I guess these people are hoping there will be apps soon but, sadly for them, devs know where the money tree is – iOS.
I wonder how many of these 50k have ever used an iPad.
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Graham,
I wouldn’t say most people are duped into buying the playbook. Most people willing to spend $500-$700 dollars on something are going to do their research. Yes it is true that the app selection is sub-par at launch but I really have no worries as it has been stated that it will be able to access some 25,000 blackberry legacy apps, as well as the android apps come summer.
As for comparison I have used an iPad extensively and it is a great product, however I have found the Playbook to be a better product. The way it multi-tasks is truly amazing.
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Amazing to see how Canadians love BlackBerry and Americans prefer Android/Apple. Guess we are patriotic.
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Love the playbook!! Perfect size
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The Playbook is perfect for long commutes especially in Toronto with possibly the worst transit system (for a major city) in the world!
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No doubt Blackberry would make a great device. Still, they could’ve released it at 100% operation in the summer.
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