RIM swallows $485m charge to clear PlayBook tablet mountain

A troubled RIM has written down the value of its little loved PlayBook tablet, taking a $485m charge on the nose in a bid to clear inventory. At the same time, the firm cut revenue forecasts for the third quarter and revealed that it had also taken a revenues charge of $50 due to the service outage in October. As exclusively …

[Shagbag]

GBP100 and I'd buy one.

GBP150 and I'd still consider it.

If it costs RIM more than this to manufacture, distribute and sell, then I'm not interested.

At current retail of GBP250, I'm more interested to just spend the extra GBP100 and buy a Tab.

[Philippe]

Why would anyone wants this?

I have tried the thing in an airport some time ago and it was linked to a BB so it had e-mail.

I have found it extremely limited, too small.

Yes it was quick but it felt so basic and unfinished...

I don't know why anyone would spend the money when there are better alternative out there with a future?

What am I missing?

[Anonymous Coward]

You're not missing anything. RIM made something no one wants

[Anonymous Coward]

..

RIM Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis sound to put a brave face on the PlayBook experience so far, saying it remained "committed" to the form factor.

Like the commitment between the titanic and an iceburg....

[ratfox]

Poor RIM

I wish them well, but I don't have much hope.

[M Gale]

Funny this story comes out today.

Just this afternoon I was chatting with a few of the other students and mentioned Blackberry's Playbook. None of them knew what I was on about. The questions asked were something along the lines of "Blackberry makes a tablet?"

Was only when I mentioned the advert with the Flash Gordon music in that the penny dropped. Everyone had seen it, nobody realised that it was a Blackberry device. Maybe that's part of RIM's problem right there?

[LarsG]

DHOOOOOH

A pint of duff beer would be more useful.

[tmTM]

Title

Overpriced, under featured.

RIM provide a master class in how to make a complete mess of a tablet.

[Goat Jam]

It's even more amusing considering the amount of pre launch hype they pushed out. Remember all those "The Playbook is so awesome you will make a mess in your pants" press releases in the 12 months leading up to the release?

[JeffyPooh]

$199 price point changes everything

I bought one at Cdn$299. Although there's some unfinished aspects, I was very impressed. It's great for surfing the web, it's great for listening to streaming audio (i.e. Flash), it's great for watching videos and movies, and it works fine for Gmail once you force the Desktop URL. The battery lasts all day, or even days. The few negatives can be fixed with SW updates and more apps - inevitable.

When the price dropped to $199 (with free shipping) it became The Bargain Of The Century. My elderly parents bought one, I bought two for Xmas gifts for siblings. My coworkers bought dozens (!) for themselves or as gifts.

The built in video calling works perfectly, and I expect my siblings to have more facetime (lol) with our parents.

There are a few logical fallacies that infect some consumer's evaluation of the tablet marketplace:

1) Any household may only select one ecosystem - Wrong! It's better to have access to all.

2) The Wifi PlayBook somehow needs a Blackberry phone.

3) A given tablet "...will be the last tablet I ever buy."

4) The old 'reassuringly expensive' concept..

I'll bet that even the most jaded PlayBook critic would line-up for hours in the freezing sleet if the price dropped any further. Sometimes a fantastic price has a quality all its own.

Thank you RIM.

[Tim Parker]

Exclusive exsmooosive

"As exclusively revealed by El Reg, RIM's fondleslab failed to win over the hearts and minds of either consumers or biz customers"

Errrr - yeah, right - because we all thought it was a raging success ?

Please tell me that was meant to be a wee joke.

[Giles Jones]

RIM in "people not buying crap, small, expensive tablet" shocker. Wasn't this supposed to be an iPad killer? sounds like they shot themselves in the foot instead.

Sure, some people want a 7 incher, others want a 10 incher. But at least give them the choice and also make sure you price the 7 inch tablet noticeably less than an iPad.

[Anonymous John]

"The firm said today that an "increase in promotional activity is required to drive sell-through to end customers, "

Or, as it is usually called, advertising.

[James 51]

If they're not still in the tablet business in 9 months that will be a pity. Tried one in currys. The interface was a little frustrating but think that was because I didn't know what I was doing. Otherwise very impressed and will probably get one. One small issue though. A 16gb model in uk is £250. In the US the 64gb model is £255.

[quick_beam]

Give it a rest already...

Stop fondling your fondleword...

It ain't a pretty sight.