“Best Buy on Monday explained the rationale behind its decision to cancel BlackBerry PlayBook orders and pull listings,” Electronista reports.
“The company responded that it still planned to carry the tablet and that shoppers had just ‘responded very positively’ to the $300 price drop, selling out by mid-weekend,” Electronista reports. “Its promo was still going on and would have a restock soon.”
Electronista reports, “The store chain didn’t explain why it had completely removed the PlayBook from its website during the weekend instead of just marking it as sold out, as it does with most other products. It also didn’t say why it chose to cancel orders that it still expected would get the better price. Actual sell-through isn’t known as well, although it’s presumed to be below iPad numbers given that Apple also sold out and normally sells many more tablets.
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Just like the HP TouchPad, it’s a success! Smirk.
Best Buy and RIM ought to be sued for taking advantage of the mentally deficient.
Related articles:
Beleaguered RIM liquidates BlackBerry PlayBook with employee-only $99 fire sale – November 28, 2011
Amateur Hour is Over: Best Buy cancels BlackBerry PlayBook orders, pulls listings – November 28, 2011
Beleaguered RIM vows to keep Adobe Flash alive on moribund BlackBerry PlayBook – November 10, 2011
Beleaguered RIM offers ‘Buy 2, get 1 free’ PlayBooks – October 28, 2011
RIM slashes prices, PlayBooks continue selling like snotcakes – October 27, 2011
Retailers slash price tag on RIM’s tiny-screen Playbook flop – September 29, 2011
Beleaguered RIM drastically cuts production of PlayBook flop – September 21, 2011
RUMOR: RIM BlackBerry PlayBook sales miss targets by over 90% at major retailer – May 20, 2011
Hey MDN,
I like your stuff generally. I am an Apple guy but also a RIM fan — have many friends there. The price cut worked because the ecosystem needs more room to grow. It WILL grow. The BBX platform is going to surprise. While IOS can still dominate, the arrogance should be muted. Competition is necessary. Don’t assume RIM is stationary. They are definitely responding and reacting to market forces now and were very slow to the gate. But they have a serious chance. Give them a break.
Lol they don’t “have a serious chance.”
Shouldn’t that be spelled “Siri-ous?”
Hey John,
Sorry to be blunt, but RIM products suck.
The end.
they used to be good.
I had to use a BB Torch (I think thats what is was) a few weeks back…. holy crap have they descended to the bottom of the worst.
I tried to use a BB Playbook the day of release, Walked into an Office Depot…. not one person near the Playbook, Like I said i Tried… by 11AM the Playbook demo, had frozen.
Very different from the RIM of past.
John,
You sound like the perfect lead plaintiff for the lawsuit MDN describes in their Take.
You sound more like a rimjob fan.
Good luck, because right now the competition for RIM is not Apple nor is it Android. The competition for RIM is Microsoft. Which of the two of you is going to be the 3rd ecosystem? Honestly, it may not even come down to whether RIM’s BBX is better than Microsoft’s WinPhone. Like I said, good luck.
If I were you and you were RIM, I’d advise RIM to change the name of the PlayBook to the PrayerBook…because they haven’t got a snowball’s chance in hell that the BBX Hail Mary pass will work out.
Now please turn to Chapter 5, Verse 6 of the PrayerBook and pray for the souls of the dead, the walking dead in Waterloo.
They’re not all walking dead just yet. There’s still a few of them driving their Porsches and Mercedes SUVs around. Probably hoping not to get laid off before their lease runs out.
There are a crap load of people who want an iPad but can not afford one. These folks are settling for the Play Book and Kindle fire tablets. Are these products as good as the iPad? No. They are more affordable and in this economy the consumer is more likely to sacrifice quality for price.
The iPad created the desire and the other companies are riding the wave all of the way to the bank! Price matters…
Do not assume that none of theses tablets will succeed.
Why are you a RiM fan? Is it because of their products? If it is because of the products, then why would RiM have any business in trying to use Apple’s, uh, playbook?
Modern, Multi-Touch-centric canvasses do not appear to be their area of expertise at all, from what I understand of their product line and history.
It does appear to be something Apple has been working on, however.
You also call for can’t-we-all-just-get-along style clemency by saying “Give them a break” – but that’s not the message that RiM itself is touting.
Amateur Hour Is Over was the message.
Those are some damn big rocks to sling around, so you’d better have the products and services (iCloud) to back it up, or you risk being legitimate fodder for ridicule ala MDN’s take.
Good grief John, lay off the bath salts!
Yes, they are “reacting to market forces” like adding email and calendar capabilities.
Can I have a toke of whatever you are smoking?
lol BB tries their best not to hurt RIM reputation. I think it’s a bit to late to try and save their rep. Only an idiot would believe that the PlayedBook was really a success.
Everything has it’s price. If it’s priced right, it will sell well. Apparently RIM finally realized their product was $300 too expensive. Kudos to them for finally realizing their place in the market. They are not top tier, they’re bottom tier.
Personally I wouldn’t take a BB Playbook if they were giving them away, but to each his own …
why don’t Rim just give them away FREE? then the morons in ZDnet , business Insider will REALLY DECLARE how GREAT Playbook is doing by the number of ‘shipped’ units.
really WEIRD how many websites out there are declaring a RIM VICTORY from disounting units below cost.
losing money per unit isn’t good for a manufacturer especially unlike Amazon it’s doubful RIM can make it back by selling ‘razors’ (media, apps etc).
Meanwhile, Apple sells every iPad it makes, almost as soon as it is made, at full asking price.
In 2012, the iPad competition will give up trying to go head-to-head with iPad. Trying (and failing) to do so loses money every time. They will focus on the low end (because Apple won’t go there – yet). The starting price tag (not fire sale price) for the tablets will be $199. Kindle Fire will have lots of competition.
I would get the playbook but it doesn’t have a physical keyboard…
Yah, wouldn’t it be great if it had a physical keyboard and maybe even would fold in half to protect the keyboard and display? Then have a OS that there is no software for and no email, calendar and contact programs. Oh yah, and have Flash on it and a bunch of ports of every kind and also an optical drive and don’t forget a floppy drive.
Wow,
There’s a lot of circle something going on in here. I’ve been an Apple user since 1978 when I had an Apple II+, moved on to a IIe, Iic, IIgs, IIc+, MacLC, and MacIIVx before migrating to the Powerbook 190 and 5300 laptops, and kept on trucking to hold a 3GS, iPod Touch Gen1, iPad Gen1, Macbook Unibody 2008, and soon to be Air. So what’s your point guys? I AM AN APPLE FAN.
Based on the response from ALL of you, you’re so knee deep in fan-boyism it’s quick cultish. RIM’s QNX is a kick-ass O/S that was sadly rushed into a half-baked tablet in a fast market. RIM should look back now and see how badly they did moving fast…cuz, NO ONE has gained in share. But to assume that Apple will somehow retain its near record market penetration is a joke.
And clearly, people have rushed on PRICE to make a move on playbook. RIM foolishly priced on iPad pricing for a product that wasn’t iPad worthy. I am sure they realize it internally. But now, with a ton of new owners, an upcoming 2.0 BBX upgrade, and more Playbooks, I wouldn’t rule anything out for any player. This market is far from being “won” because there is no END to this battle.
Just said to see so many Apple loyalists act stupidly, hurl insults as being a “RIM fan boy” when I am actually a diehard Apple user. The Playbook is not a bad device – screen size is bad for (ME) and price was not at par based on the ecosystem comparisons between iOS and BB. Besides, as an existing iOS user, I had invested significantly in apps so I wouldn’t migrate or acquire at the full rate given that email / calendar wasn’t integrated. Bad move by RIM. They have one more chance but you all foolishly assume the tablet market is won and done for and that there is no room for any growth or market share takeaway. Silly, silly thought. Sorry guys, you’re being silly and naive on this one.
MDN, can we iCal this guy? Shouldn’t take too long…
Interesting response. I have been a dedicated Apple user since the first Mac in 1985. For work, I have been forced to use Windows and even taught courses on Windows.
As you point out, BBX was rushed out to market and not polished or complete. It definitely is not a great OS but may have some potential if the bozos at RIM don’t destroy it. RIM says “Amateur hour is over” but I think it is still not over.
The QNX-based BBX could be technically the best tablet OS in the world, but apps are really very important.
It’s a complete pain in the arse to try to develop for PlayBook. To get on-board with the developer program they make you jump through so many hoops it actively discourages any attempt for any developer to sign up (this has improved from where it was, but it’s still tougher than the competition). If that bad start were not bad enough, there’s then the incoherent state and comparatively poor quality of their developer tools to compete with.
Signing up as a developer for any competing platform (iOS, Android or Windows 7) and writing apps is trivial in comparison.
As if to ram this point home, RIM themselves haven’t yet bothered to write proper standalone apps for basic features like e-mail and messaging. Something they’re still not addressing with BBX.
Amateur Hour.
A quick look on Best Buy website show that they still carry the BB Playbook….
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchpage.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_dynSessConf=7251335077914028405&id=pcat17071&type=page&st=playbook&sc=Global&cp=1&nrp=15&sp=&qp=&list=n&iht=y&usc=All+Categories&ks=960
You guys make me feel embarrassed to be an iOS device owner! Competition is good for everybody and your arrogance is pathetic to say the least!
I want some of the competitors tablets to succeed so Apple will be forced to try even harder to give the consumers a superior product at a much more competitive price.
What competition are you talking about? It can’t be RIM, because selling a ‘tablet’ at below cost is INSANITY.
It can’t be RIM because they have a sub-standard OS.
It can’t be RIM because they are F****D.
iPhone battery sucks and Siri are for the blind and lazy bunch…. Blackberry….wow…wow….wow
Well, call me blind and lazy, but I am not stupid.
If your avatar is accurate, I’m not sure about the blind and lazy part, and probably not stupid…
But BEAUTIFUL — yeah, that! A welcome change from the office dudes around the water cooler…
High demand? More like a failed product from RIM.
rim fans tooting bbx…
god I feel like I’m lost in some freaking Twilight Zone time warp — you know where a horrible incident keeps repeating itself and you can’t get out :
last year it was Playbook… (greatest tablet with greatest OS blah blah)
now it’s bbx.. (greatest tablet with greatest OS blah blah)
the playbook is big Brontosaurus size flop dudes..
FACE IT.
qnX whose greatest claim to fame was an OS for CAR NAVIGATION SYSTEMS sucks big time as an mobile OS (that’s why they cant even get freaking email on it! ) It’s mobile use previously was on simple army radios than didnt run apps and weighed a KILO each.
and the Rim CEO’s have been last several years talking and fantasizing as if they are in perpetual reefer dream and dumbos are STILL listening to them..
dear lord almight…
Yep. “Demand for the PlayBook is CRAZY HIGH!! Therefore, we are going to remove it from our stores until things cool off a bit.”
Remember when you couldn’t get an iPhone 4 because the demand was so high for so long? Lines in front of every store every day — just in case they got some in? Apple should have just stopped selling them for a few weeks until they built up a better supply, right? (In fact, I seem to remember some geniuses — even on this site — that suggested just such a strategy).
Believe me, if the PlayBook were that popular that there was a “run on the banks” so to speak, the links WOULD NOT be removed!! Bogus.
Yeah, took it out of stock to make room for iPad.
HOW TO COMPETE WITH APPLE:
Make no profit.
HP gets it.
Amazon gets it.
RIM gets it.
. . . NEXT!
Ummm…. no, that’s not really true.
WORP got it right. In the end.
Maybe the ones you mentioned (HP, Amazon and RIM) will eventually get it too.