This morning, british electronics distribution specialist, Context, dropped a bit of a bombshell, claiming that the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet actually outsold Apple’s latest iPad during the last two months of the 2012. Context’s channels make up most of the electronics distribution in the UK, so this could be really good news. The figures may not be very big, but it is substantial!
According to Context, the PlayBook shifted 160,000 units and the latest-generation iPad 113,000 units over the Christmas period, giving RIM a fairly substantial lead. All iPad models combined sold 203,000 units.
Interestingly, The Register points out that one of the reasons for the strong PlayBook sales may be the big profit margin RIM offers for retailers for pushing its tablet. This could very well be a stratagem RIM will also employ when it launches its new BlackBerry phones in the UK, possibly within one week.
If the PlayBook is still commercially viable in the UK after the drubbing it took a year earlier, then the new BlackBerry handsets also have a shot at redemption. British consumers have always been the most pro-RIM people in Europe by a fairly large margin; BlackBerry smartphones’ market share topped 20% in the UK two years ago.
This bit of news is pretty interesting, a really good look into what goes on behind the scenes.
