The struggling Canadian company – Research In Motion, manufacturers of BlackBerry range of smartphones, which were once connoisseur of business class, are facing lot of problems with their tablets also. In order to remain competitive in tablet segment, RIM has has slashed the price of its 64 GB version of PlayBook tablet by around 18 % to Rs 19,990. In December last year, RIM had slashed the price of its PlayBook by more than half to Rs 24,490 for the 64 GB version under an offer from the original price of Rs 37,990.
A report released by Cybermedia Research indicates 21 % market share for Blackberry PlayBook in India, as per RIM, India. The pricing combined with features in the new operating system (PlayBook OS 2.0) and locally relevant applications make the PlayBook extremely competitive.
However, the price of the 16 GB version has been raised marginally to Rs 13,990 from Rs 13,490 (available under the offer). The device was originally launched at Rs 27,990. According to analysts, sales in the tablet PC segment in India are expected to touch one million units over the next 12 months.
Since the launch of Apple’s iPad in the country and recent reduction in the price of iPad 2, the tablet market has been witnessing huge competition, with more and more new contenders launching their devices to compete with the price structure of iPad. In the coming days, we will see more launches, announcements about reduction in prices and future launch dates of many devices.
Meanwhile, the company launched a keyboard on Tuesday in Toronto (Canada) that will couple with its poor selling PlayBook tablet, and it hopes the potential for improved productivity earns it kudos among key office workers who have embraced Apple’s iPad. The keyboard, which the Canadian smartphone company is selling for $120, uses a secure Bluetooth wireless link and has a touchpad that mimics the PlayBook’s touch gestures. The touchpad can also be used as a computer mouse.
