Research in Motion, Ontarian makers of the once-popular BlackBerry, haven’t been particularly graceful in the past few years. None of their phones have done spectacularly, and their next generation operating system has suffered major delays. Their — ahem — flawed tablet, called the PlayBook, hasn’t exactly set the world on fire, and now we’re seeing the results of that. Until February 4th, the 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB models of the BlackBerry PlayBook are on sale in the RIM store for only $299. Yes, all three are the same price. Why? Well, my guess is a massive amount of stock that they want to get rid of ASAP.
Here is what you save on each version:
- 16 GB: $200
- 32 GB: $300
- 64 GB $400
Now, if PlayBooks were selling at least decently, why would they be selling the most expensive model at over a 50 percent discount? Of course, they would never do such a thing. The only logical conclusion is that they are trying to dump their excess stock in a fashion not dissimilar from HP’s TouchPad.
RIM is really and truly on the ropes. It seems as if they’ve had the reverse Midas touch in the past few years, and I have yet to see any evidence that there is someone in charge that has the knowhow to right the ship. If I was a RIM investor, I would certainly have some harsh words for the executive team. At this point, it’s no longer funny to see RIM flail. It’s just sad.
Update: The Canadian Store also has discounts, albeit slightly different. The 16GB model is $199.00, 32GB model is $249.00, and the 64GB model is $399.00. Thanks to @mercerch for sending in a screenshot.