Canadian firm Research in Motion (RIM) has slashed the price of its 64 GB version of tablet PC PlayBook by around 18 per cent to Rs 19,990.
In December last year, RIM had slashed the price of its PlayBook to Rs 24,490 for the 64GB version. It was retailing for Rs 37,990.
“We have seen positive momentum with the promotional pricing levels and have decided to maintain an aggressive pricing strategy in order to help continue the momentum,” Research In Motion India Director Marketing Krishnadeep Baruah told PTI.
A report released by Cybermedia Research had indicated that Blackberry had 21 per cent market share in India, he added.
“The pricing combined with features in the new operating system (PlayBook OS 2.0) and locally relevant applications make the PlayBook extremely competitive,” he said.
However, the price of the 16GB version has been raised to Rs 13,990 from Rs 13,490 (available under the offer). The device was launched last year 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.
With 3G (high-speed internet services) being rolled out aggressively, the opportunity has only expanded, they said.
Since the launch of Apple’s iPad in the country, the tablet market has been witnessing huge competition, with more and more new contenders launching their devices.
RIM, known for its BlackBerry series of phones, had introduced PlayBook in June last year in the Indian market.
Recently, the company had announced the launch of PlayBook OS 2.0 with additional functionalities, like ability to run Android-based applications, advanced messaging features, increased social integration and better browser, among others.
Keywords: Blackberry, Playbook, Tablet PC
"With 3G (high-speed internet services) being rolled out aggressively,
the opportunity has only expanded, they said."...What you can do with 3G and Playbook? This thing doesn't have 3G. Slashing prices by 50% actually tells me, you were overcharging your loyalists (lucky I am not one!). RIM should know now, its all about apps! not some good hardware and nothing else! A decent price matching features (basic features at that like native email app) and some decent catalog of apps, should have saved your back. But this is too
late... This news is more about clearing stock rather than price
slash!
The price of the playbook 64GB was slashed by almost 36% last year and now a further 18% cut. Effectively, the new price is half of the launch price.
If RIM (and other manufacturers too) can market tablets at half their marked prices and still make decent profits, what are people paying for- ~30% for the device and 70+% for the names and brands?!
Some food for thought for anyone planning to buy a tablet...
"With 3G (high-speed internet services) being rolled out aggressively, the opportunity has only expanded, they said." Almost everyone I know is unhappy with their 3G services (including me!). All these Tablets work better as wi-fi devices.
"Aggressive pricing strategy"... Blackberry is a loser in tablet market. They reduced the price of the same product by almost 50%. One can easliy imagine the quality of the product and desparation in Blackberry to sell at any price! Must be some dumb MBAs making their "marketing plan" :-)
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