Tweet
March 22, 2011, 8:44 AM EDT
By Hugo Miller
(Updates with analyst’s comment in fifth paragraph.)
March 22 (Bloomberg) -- Research In Motion Ltd. said its BlackBerry PlayBook tablet computer will go on sale in the U.S. on April 19 through retailers including Best Buy Co., as it seeks to compete with Apple Inc.’s iPad.
A version with 16 gigabytes of memory will cost $499, a 32- gigabyte model will retail for $599 and a version with 64 gigabytes will cost $699, RIM and Best Buy said today in a statement. Richfield, Minnesota-based Best Buy said it will start accepting orders today.
The announcement ends weeks of speculation as to when Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM would begin selling the PlayBook to address the lead the iPad has created among business customers. Apple, which has sold more than 15 million iPads in the past year, has said more than 65 percent of the Fortune 100 companies are testing or deploying the iPad, including Procter & Gamble Co., Lowe’s Cos. and Hyatt Hotels Corp.
RIM has shown the PlayBook to a “significant” portion of Fortune 100 companies and interest in the device is “very high,” Jim Tobin, senior vice-president, software and business services, said in an interview last week.
The prices for the three different PlayBook models, which come with Wi-Fi connectivity, are exactly the same as for comparable iPad models, making them “very competitive,” said Mike Abramsky, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets in Toronto. He has a “top pick” rating on RIM.
The PlayBook will go on sale in over 20,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada operated by retailers Staples Inc., RadioShack Corp., Office Depot Inc. and carriers including AT&T Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp. and Verizon Wireless.
That distribution is more than double the availability of Apple’s updated iPad2, which went on sale earlier this month in about 10,000 stores, Abramsky said.
RIM rose 1 percent to $62.85 in early trading after climbing 2.1 percent to $62.17 on the Nasdaq Stock Market yesterday. The stock has climbed 29 percent since the PlayBook was unveiled Sept. 27.
--Editors: Niamh Ring, Chris Staiti
To contact the reporter on this story: Hugo Miller in Toronto at hugomiller@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net
Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | WordPress Plugin
(Updates with analyst’s comment in fifth paragraph.)
March 22 (Bloomberg) -- Research In Motion Ltd. said its BlackBerry PlayBook tablet computer will go on sale in the U.S. on April 19 through retailers including Best Buy Co., as it seeks to compete with Apple Inc.’s iPad.
A version with 16 gigabytes of memory will cost $499, a 32- gigabyte model will retail for $599 and a version with 64 gigabytes will cost $699, RIM and Best Buy said today in a statement. Richfield, Minnesota-based Best Buy said it will start accepting orders today.
The announcement ends weeks of speculation as to when Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM would begin selling the PlayBook to address the lead the iPad has created among business customers. Apple, which has sold more than 15 million iPads in the past year, has said more than 65 percent of the Fortune 100 companies are testing or deploying the iPad, including Procter & Gamble Co., Lowe’s Cos. and Hyatt Hotels Corp.
RIM has shown the PlayBook to a “significant” portion of Fortune 100 companies and interest in the device is “very high,” Jim Tobin, senior vice-president, software and business services, said in an interview last week.
The prices for the three different PlayBook models, which come with Wi-Fi connectivity, are exactly the same as for comparable iPad models, making them “very competitive,” said Mike Abramsky, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets in Toronto. He has a “top pick” rating on RIM.
The PlayBook will go on sale in over 20,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada operated by retailers Staples Inc., RadioShack Corp., Office Depot Inc. and carriers including AT&T Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp. and Verizon Wireless.
That distribution is more than double the availability of Apple’s updated iPad2, which went on sale earlier this month in about 10,000 stores, Abramsky said.
RIM rose 1 percent to $62.85 in early trading after climbing 2.1 percent to $62.17 on the Nasdaq Stock Market yesterday. The stock has climbed 29 percent since the PlayBook was unveiled Sept. 27.
--Editors: Niamh Ring, Chris Staiti
To contact the reporter on this story: Hugo Miller in Toronto at hugomiller@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net
Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | WordPress Plugin