No joy for Research in Motion and its miserable PlayBook tablet. Even though the device was discounted heavily during the holidays, RIM continues to struggle under the weight of its unsold PlayBook inventory. It’s a new year though, and RIM has a plan. Unload them at deep discounts.
To wit, RIM’s latest PlayBook sale: From now until Feb. 4, or whenever inventory runs out, RIM is selling all models of its PlayBooks for just $299.
That’s a lousy deal for the 16 gigabyte unit, whose price has dropped as low as $199 at some outlets. But for the 64GB version, which debuted at $699.99 and is currently selling on Amazon for around $370, it’s not too bad.
Research in Motion restated their earnings expectations back in December, and warned that “a more aggressive level of promotional activity” would be needed to sell their PlayBook devices. Looks like this discount is it. (As of the time this article was written, the above link to the Blackberry Store returns a “(503) Server Unavailable” error.)
So, it looks like another line of “me too” tablets is about to bite the dust. Will the next “iPad killer” please step forward and state your name? Please spell it for us, as we want to make sure we get it correct in the obituary.