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‘RIM’ Stories

RIM kills PlayBook and future tablet plans claims analyst [Update: RIM denies]

Chris Davies, Sep 29th 2011 Discuss [9]

RIM has reportedly frozen production of the BlackBerry PlayBook and axed development of future tablets, according to one analyst, faced with lackluster sales of the QNX slate. The rumor comes from Collins Stewart analyst John Vinh, BGR reports, who cites unnamed sources at Quanta, RIM's manufacturing partner, for the intel. Although Quanta had already confirmed that PlayBook production had been scaled back, this is the first sign that RIM may be rethinking its entire tablet strategy. Update: RIM has called Vinh's checks on the supply chain "pure fiction"; more after the cut Read The Full Story

RIM PlayBook Android app limits detailed disappointingly

Chris Davies, Sep 28th 2011 Discuss [16]

RIM has confirmed what Android functionality BlackBerry PlayBook owners can expect from their QNX tablets after the BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps is released, and it makes for disappointing reading. The list of features confirmed by RIM engineers at Droidcon 2011 in Romania this week, Thinq reports, misses out on several high-profile - and much anticipated - components, such as SIP VoIP and widgets, as well as blocking any apps that rely on Google Maps or text-to-speech. Read The Full Story

BlackBerry PlayBook prices drop by $200 in the US

Rue Liu, Sep 26th 2011 Discuss [18]

Following RIM's disappointing Q2 performance, the company promised to drop prices for its BlackBerry PlayBook in an effort to boost sales. And indeed RIM has dropped the price for the tablet by about $200, but the discount is only temporary. The deal is available now for all versions of the PlayBook, including the 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB models and is offered by Office Depot and Staples until October 1. Read The Full Story

Mobile Mix study shows Android almost double iOS market share

Rue Liu, Sep 23rd 2011 Discuss [5]

Millennial Media released a new Mobile Mix report today for the month of August and unsurprisingly Android and iOS are both still in the lead and growing, while the rest of the competitors continue to fall further behind. Android has quite the lead with a 54 percent market share that's almost double that of iOS, which has 28 percent. Read The Full Story

Verizon expects Windows Phone to overtake BlackBerry

Rue Liu, Sep 23rd 2011 Discuss [7]

Despite the poor sales of Microsoft's Windows Phone devices, Verizon seems to have more confidence in the platform than RIM's BlackBerry. During the Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam expressed his opinion on which platform would emerge as the third major mobile operating system and he believed that Windows Phone would overtake BlackBerry. Read The Full Story

Windows Phone will beat Blackberry according to Verizon CEO

Shane McGlaun, Sep 23rd 2011 Discuss [9]

Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam has stated that he thinks Windows Phone will be beat Blackberry in the fight to become the third operating system in the smartphone realm. That's not saying much though with RIM and the Blackberry platform taking such a beating that some have called for RIM to sell off its IP assets. It's obvious by consumer habits and purchases that there is no room for hoards of operating systems on the market. Read The Full Story

iPhone loyalty at 89%, dwarfs other phone makers

Rue Liu, Sep 22nd 2011 Discuss [48]

According to a recent survey by UBS Investment Research, the number of iPhone owners who indicated that they would stick with Apple for their next handset is overwhelming compared to rival phone makers. The retention rate for Apple is 89 percent, while the second closest competitor, HTC, has a retention rate of 39 percent. Read The Full Story

RIM slashes PlayBook production amid growing stockpile

Chris Davies, Sep 21st 2011 Discuss [7]

RIM's plan to cut PlayBook prices next month to stimulate sales of the slate hasn't filled production partner Quanta with confidence: the company has axed 1,000 staff in its northern Taiwan plant. The Canadian company has drastically slashed its orders, according to DigiTimes' sources, after reporting just 200,000 unit shipments of the BlackBerry tablet in Q2. Read The Full Story

PlayBook price slash promised as shares slump

Chris Davies, Sep 16th 2011 Discuss [0]

BlackBerry manufacturer RIM has seen its stock price tumble in the aftermath of its dreary Q2 financial performance, and plans to slash prices of the BlackBerry PlayBook in order to motivate sales of the slate. After reporting earnings that mustered less than half of Q2 last year, RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie attempted to rally interest by confirming that PlayBook OS v2.0 would arrive in October. However, it's likely to be heavy discounting that prompts sales, if anything can. Read The Full Story

PlayBook OS version 2 coming next month

Rue Liu, Sep 15th 2011 Discuss [7]

During RIM's disappointing Q2 earnings call this evening, Co-CEO Jim Balsillie confirmed that a major feature update to the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet would be arriving next month. The update to version 2.0 will be shown off at the BlackBerry DevCon event in October and will be made available shortly thereafter. Read The Full Story

RIM reports Q2 revenue down 10 percent, PlayBook shipped only 200k units

Rue Liu, Sep 15th 2011 Discuss [1]

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion made its Q2 earnings report today, and things are still looking dreary. Revenue for the quarter fell short of Wall Street expectations if $4.5 billion, falling 10 percent to $4.2 billion, down from $4.6 billion in the same quarter last year. Sales of its PlayBook tablet and BlackBerry smartphones have also been disappointing. Read The Full Story

IDC: Tablets beat estimates, Android down, iOS up, Amazon’s tablet is actually an e-reader

Rue Liu, Sep 14th 2011 Discuss [3]

Research firm IDC released some interesting data this morning regarding tablet shipments for Q2 of 2011 as well as predictions for the second half of the year. Beating estimates, tablet shipments are now expected to reach 62.5 million in 2011, up from the original forecast of 53.5 million units. Apple's iPad 2 shipments continue to surge as Android slips and RIM enters. WebOS share will disappear by Q1 of 2011 and the much anticipated Amazon tablet is actually an e-reader. Read The Full Story