Canada-based Research in Motion (RIM) on Wednesday launched three models of its tablet PC, the BlackBerry PlayBook, in India. The company priced its 64 GB model at Rs 37,990, the 32 GB model at Rs 32,990 and the 16 GB model at Rs 27,990.
Placing this on par with BlackBerry's enterprise offerings, the company's managing director in India, Frenny Bawa, called it a workaholic device. “It is the first enterprise-ready tablet to hit the market,” she said at a press conference during the launch.
The company also said the device, just like its smartphones, offered secure connectivity on its server. With a seven-inch screen and a weight of 425 grams, the company is branding it as a pocket device. “The device is more portable than others,” said Bawa.
| ON THE MENU | |
| Device | Price (in Rs) |
| Playbook (seven-inch screen & 64 GB memory)) | 37,990 |
| Ipad2 (10 inch screen & 64 GB memory, 3G enabled) | 39,500.00 |
| Samsung Galaxy Tab (seven-inch screen) | 24,900.00 |
| Dell Streak (seven-inch screen) | 23,900.00 |
| Olive Pad (seven-inch screen) | 14,490 |
The device does not allow one to use a data SIM card. One would have to use either a wi-fi connection or sync it with a BlackBerry smartphone. “Tablet market shipments show a clear preference for the 10-inch model, due to its ability to support more-robust two-hand typing and larger viewing areas for apps, especially videos,” said Vishal Tripathi, principal analyst, Gartner.
Some detractors say RIM may be a little late in its launch, since the tablet market is already crowded with many such models. Even though there are around 200 tablet models all over the world, in India, five companies have launched tablets in the last eight months.
The BlackBerry PlayBook is the sixth entrant in the tablet market PC market in India. In addition, challengers who see a future, are already planning an entry. As many as five more Indian-made tablets in the Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 piece range are set to enter the market later this year. Competition from players like Apple, Samsung, and others like Dell Streak and Olive Pad is also present.
Sunil Lalvani, director of enterprise sales in India, said the device had three differentiating features from the rest of the tablets in the market. One of them, the company claims, is the Blackberry Bridge option, which allows the user to sync his Blackberry e-mails, contacts with the others so that the user can get the same Blackberry experience on a larger screen and a secure network.
The device also claims a multi-function capability. “One of the third parties which tested it said one can run as many as 20 applications simultaneously,” said Lalvani. BlackBerry PlayBook also claims to provide Flash and HTML applications which allow uncompromised browsing experience.
However, the threat to the company, experts say, would be the lack of traction in the tablet market, and not competition alone. In spite of a number of devices, there is no real traction in sales in the market, and this could mature only by 2012. According to some estimates, tablet sales are yet to touch the one-lakh mark, and is likely to grow very slowly. Analysts say it would take time for tablets to make inroads into the enterprise market, which seems like a natural market for RIM, a company that has garnered enterprise business with its security offerings.
