It seems that RIM is taking advantage of every negative point against the Apple iPad from consumer surveys and has incorporated them into the Blackberry Playbook. These include true multitasking and interoperability with Flash-based technology -- something that Apple is yet to adopt for its iPad device.
Despite the announcement, RIM shares fell by 2.75 points which analysts take as a criticism against RIM management particularly for the odd-timed release of the Playbook, set after the year-end holidays. Perhaps RIM executives are anticipating loyalty sales from existing Blackberry users especially since the Playbook has device-pairing integration with Blackberry smartphones. This should encourage consumers to hold-on to their hard-earned cash and snub the latest iteration of the iPad this holiday season. The same goes for corporate and institutional buyers looking at distributing tablet computers for their organization since the Blackberry Playbook is largely targeted for the enterprise setting.
That said, I think the delay is a smart move. However, we'll have to wait until next year whether this gamble will pay off for RIM.
The Playbook is also equipped with Bluetooth and WiFi and uses the Blackberry operating system although RIM pledges a Playbook OS soon. See the video preview of the Blackberry Playbook below. How about you -- Are you going for Playbook or the iPad?
