Estimating the BlackBerry PlayBook Price

By David Woods on September 28th, 2010

• Tweet
• Link to StumbleUpon
• 5 Comments

Reasearch in Motion, maker of the BlackBerry, announced its new tablet device yesterday. It’s called the PlayBook and it’s set to go head-to-head with Apple’s iPad in the tablet market.

The first thing that most consumers will notice about the PlayBook is that it looks strikingly similar to the iPad. In fact, some industry insiders have nicknamed it the “BlackBerry iPad” or the “BlackPad” because of the similarities. It features a 7-inch touchscreen (the iPad’s is 9.7 inches) with a fairly wide black bezel around the edge (something the iPad was criticized for). It’s a bit lighter than the iPad–RIM claims it only weighs about 65% as much as an iPad.

Will the PlayBook be able to compete against the iPad? The answer to this question will probably be determined by one factor: price. RIM has yet to announce the price of the PlayBook. If it sells for significantly less than the iPad, we could see a change in the tablet marketplace, with consumers gravitate towards the PlayBook. If it’s about the same price, it’s hard to imagine the PlayBook truly competing with the iPad, especially considering how much of a head start Apple has.

The iPad comes in several different models (some with 3G capabilities and more storage capacity) that range from around $500 to $800. Some price experts have argued that $300 to $350 is the “sweet spot” for the PlayBook.

The PlayBook won’t go on sale until early 2011. We probably won’t have any details about the exact price for several more weeks.