14 DAY TRIAL // Canadian mobile phone maker Research In Motion is expected to bring to the market during the first quarter of the ongoing year its first tablet PC, the BlackBerry PlayBook, and some more estimations on this device's market performance emerged.
Following previsions of 1 million devices sold during the first quarter of the year, although the tablet PC is expected to arrive on shelves only in the last month of the time frame, a forecast of 6 million BlackBerry PlayBook devices being shipped during the first year of availability emerged.
RBC Capital Markets GM Mike Abramsky suggested in a note to investors on Tuesday morning that RIM would indeed be capable of moving such a large number of tablet PC units.
Following a survey of 1,100 consumers, conducted soon after the CES 2011 event, RBC found that 6 percent of respondents were likely to purchase the BlackBerry PlayBook when available on the market.
A similar survey from the company shows that this number would represent around 50 percent of the number of respondents interested in the Apple iPad ahead of launch, a recent article on BGR shows.
Apparently, the PlayBook seems very appealing to early adopters and power users, especially courtesy of features that are not available with the Apple’s iPad.
Those interested in the PlayBook appreciate it for its 7-inch touchscreen display, impressive specs, multitasking capabilities, security features, and for the BlackBerry name.
RBC notes that the PlayBook might be sold in over 4 million units during the calendar year 2011, and that it might sell a number of 6 million devices 12 months after the initial market availability.
Previous forecasts on RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook suggested that it might be sold in a number of around 2 to 3 million units during the first year of availability.
The Wi-Fi-only version of the BlackBerry PlayBook is expected to land on shelves in March with a price tag of between $399 and $449 attached to it. RIM would also launch 3G and 4G-capable flavors of the device in summer.