BlackBerry PlayBook gets dramatic holiday discount: prices and problems – The Verge The Verge is about technology and how it makes us feel. Founded in 2011, we offer our audience everything from breaking news to reviews to award-winning features and investigations, on our site, in video, and in podcasts. 2011-12-06T05:13:07+00:00 https://www.theverge.com/rss/stream/2341787 https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/verge-rss-large_80b47e.png?w=150&h=150&crop=1 Nathan Ingraham <![CDATA[Analyst: BlackBerry Playbook is an ‘albatross’]]> https://www.theverge.com/blackberry/2011/12/6/2614211/blackberry-playbook-necessary-evil-albatross-bloomberg 2011-12-06T00:13:07-05:00 2011-12-06T00:13:07-05:00
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Analysts are starting to respond to RIM's $485m loss on the BlackBerry Playbook, and the outlook is not positive. Bloomberg Businessweek outlines a compelling theory of the burden the Playbook places on RIM: it's a necessary evil that RIM can't afford to simply kill (like HP did with the TouchPad) because it's the only device RIM offers that runs its next-generation BBX OS. At the same time, massive price cuts mean that RIM is losing significant money on every Playbook it does manage to sell. Amidst this turmoil, RIM's shares have dropped 71 percent since the beginning of this year, while an analyst from Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel refe …

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]]> Vlad Savov <![CDATA[RIM to take a $485 million loss in Q3 earnings due to unsold PlayBooks]]> https://www.theverge.com/2011/12/2/2605280/rim-blackberry-playbook-loss-earnings 2011-12-02T07:54:50-05:00 2011-12-02T07:54:50-05:00
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RIM has just come out with a sobering statement ahead of its December 15th earnings report to tell the world that it'll be "recording a pre-tax provision" of $485 million in relation to unsold inventory of its BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. In simpler terms, that means the company is wiping nearly half a billion dollars off the value of its inventory, simply because it doesn't believe it can recoup it in sales. RIM reiterates that it has "a high level" of unsold PlayBooks in its warehouses and that it intends to continue an aggressive promotional push to get them out and returning at least some sort of revenue.

150,000 PlayBooks were shipped to …

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]]> Bryan Bishop <![CDATA[Best Buy confirms it is sold out of BlackBerry PlayBooks]]> https://www.theverge.com/2011/11/28/2594706/best-buy-official-statement-blackberry-playbook-out-of-stock 2011-11-28T21:27:05-05:00 2011-11-28T21:27:05-05:00
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Earlier today we reported that Best Buy customers that had taken advantage of the retailer's recent BlackBerry PlayBook sale were allegedly having their orders canceled, even after being charged for their purchases. Best Buy has now issued a statement on the matter.

Starting Sunday, November 20th, Best Buy offered $300 instant savings to the BlackBerry PlayBook, reducing the price to $299.99 and $199.99 for the 32 GB and 16 GB, respectively. Customers have responded very positively to this short-term promotion available until Dec. 3 and, as a result, we are currently sold out of our inventory. We will have additional units available in the …

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]]> Joanna Stern <![CDATA[RIM kicks off employee-only $99 BlackBerry PlayBook fire sale]]> https://www.theverge.com/2011/11/28/2592163/rim-blackberry-playbook-99-employees-only-fire-sale 2011-11-28T12:06:11-05:00 2011-11-28T12:06:11-05:00
via cdn0.sbnation.com

Does $199 sound like too much for the BlackBerry Playbook this holiday season? RIM seems to think so, but only for its employees. According to multiple sources, the 16GB 7-inch tablet is now available to RIM employees through a special corporate portal for $99. The 32GB version is $149 and the 64GB model for $199. We have also been told that employees can only order up to eight models. Of course, that means that it's only a matter of time before we start to see the QNX tablet on eBay, but hey, maybe RIM will just pull an HP and roll out the savings to everyone.

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]]> Bryan Bishop <![CDATA[Best Buy allegedly canceling Black Friday PlayBook orders]]> https://www.theverge.com/2011/11/28/2591972/best-buy-playbook-cancel-black-friday-orders 2011-11-28T11:47:03-05:00 2011-11-28T11:47:03-05:00
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RIM recently announced a holiday season promotion that saw the price of its BlackBerry PlayBook cut $300 across the board. Best Buy followed suit with a Black Friday sale at the same price points, but online shoppers that took advantage are now complaining their orders are being canceled by the retailer outright. SlashGear confirms that at least one location has nixed orders, with multiple customers in Best Buy's support forums reporting that their credit cards were charged before being informed the device was on backorder, and that their orders were then canceled altogether. We saw similar situations with the HP TouchPad fire sale, but rath …

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]]> Ross Miller <![CDATA[$199 BlackBerry PlayBook deal is official — ‘for limited time,’ says RIM]]> https://www.theverge.com/2011/11/21/2577660/Blackberry-playbook-199-official-rim 2011-11-21T09:51:36-05:00 2011-11-21T09:51:36-05:00
via cdn0.sbnation.com

A $199 BlackBerry PlayBook can indeed be yours this holiday season. Research in Motion made it official today via Twitter, although it didn't provide any more details beyond "select US and Canadian retailers." If last week's leaked ad flyers are to be believed - and in light of this announcement, that seems to be a good gamble - that list will include Staples, Best Buy, and Future Shop, at least. As to the permanence of this deal, RIM's tweet today explicitly calls it a "limited time" promotion, but honestly, we very much doubt RIM would really hike the price back up $300 after this season. At just under $200, the PlayBook isn't quite the imp …

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]]> Eddie Fu <![CDATA[BlackBerry PlayBook $199 on Black Friday, discounted in Canada this month (update)]]> https://www.theverge.com/2011/11/16/2566922/blackberry-playbook-price-drop-black-friday-us-canada 2011-11-16T18:52:04-05:00 2011-11-16T18:52:04-05:00
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The BlackBerry PlayBook has been met with lackluster sales since its launch this spring, and it's no mystery why: it shipped without key BlackBerry features like email, calendar, and BBM. After retailers temporarily slashed prices in an effort to boost sales earlier this year, they're back at it again. In the US, Staples will be selling the 16GB version for $199 on Black Friday, while a tipster has informed us that most Canadian retailers will be permanently dropping the price of PlayBooks beginning December 18th: $199 for the 16GB model, $299 for 32GB, and $399 for 64GB (see flyers below). This discount makes the BlackBerry tablet price com …

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