future updates

Other future updates

A decision by RIM to not ship the Playbook with native applications for e-mail and calendar has been a source of criticism and much debate by reviewers and users. The only way to access email is through the web browser, BlackBerry Bridge, or third-party applications from App World, which RIM chose for security reasons. However, RIM has stated that these native applications will be available in upcoming updates to the system software.RIM have announced their plan to introduce OS 2, in which the native applications as well as many more fixes to the software are expected to occur.

February 2012 has been announced as the release for OS 2.0 BBM support will not be included with the 2.0 update, although RIM appears to intend to support BBM in a future update. In addition to other functionality, the software update will add integrated email, calendar, and contact apps. BBM (aka BlackBerry Messenger) will, however, still be supported through the BlackBerry Bridge software, allowing users to continue to have access to it while bridged to their BlackBerry smartphone.

Reception and sales

Various sources put the sales figure on launch day alone at approximately 50,000, exceeding expectations.RIM announced in its quarterly earnings that half a million PlayBook tablets were shipped in the first quarter.However, after lukewarm market reception, there were reports that the company revised its second-quarter estimates from 2.4 million down to 800,000 – 900,000 units.When RIM announced their second quarter financial results, they revealed that they shipped 200,000 units.The combined unit shipment of 700,000 units during the first two quarter of release was only a small fraction of the 2-3 million units per quarter many had anticipated before the device's introduction. Following several months of poor sales RIM started discounting the price of Playbook from its original $499 retail price to $300 at many outlets in late September 2011.The price was further reduced to $199 at various retail outlets in both Canada and US in November due to apparent low market demand.RIM reduced the price of Playbook by over 50 percent in India under a limited festive season offer till December 31, 2011.Buoyed by the huge response, the company had decided to extend the offer by a week.The 16 GB model of the PlayBook can be bought for INR 13,490 in the Indian market instead of its regular price of INR 27,990. While the 32 GB model is available for INR 15,990, the 64 GB model is being offered for INR 24,490 against their regular prices of INR 32,990 and INR 37,990 respectively.

According to Strategy Analytics figures in the 2011 second quarter, the PlayBook's market share is 3.3 percent, compared to iOS (iPad, iPad 2) by Apple with 61.3 percent, Android by Google with 30.1 percent, and various Windows by Microsoft with 4.6 percent.In December 2011, RIM announced that it sold more than 150,000 PlayBooks in the third fiscal quarter, compare to 200,000 shipments in the second quarter and 500,000 shipments in the first quarter. In total, RIM shipped to reseller channels 800,000 PlayBook tablets in the first 9 months of fiscal year 2012 (ending Nov 2011).Due to low demand for the Playbook, RIM took a $485 million write-off to account for offering price discounts.

Encryption

Because BlackBerry Bridge accesses mail, calendaring and contacts directly from a tethered BlackBerry phone, the PlayBook meets the same encryption standards as the BlackBerry phone. It is the first (and as of September 2011, the only) tablet device to receive FIPS 140-2 certification, which makes it eligible for use by U.S. federal government agencies. In addition the Australian government also approved the use of PlayBook as the only tablet that meets its security standard.The Russian government is considering banning iPads due to security concerns and promoting the PlayBook instead.