MOBILE PHONE OUTFIT Research in Motion (RIM) has said that when it brings its tablet into the market it will be priced considerably lower than the Ipad.
Of course RIM Co-CEO Jim Balsillie did not say how much the firm's Playbook will actually cost. He just said it will be priced at less than the $500 that is the minimum Jobs' Mob charges for its netbook without a keyboard.
Apple sells the Ipad in the price range of $499 to $829, depending on storage space and support for 3G data communication.
Certainly if anyone wants to take on the entrenched Apple it is going to have to come up with a product that provides more for less. So far greedy tablet makers have tried to copy Jobs' Mob's outrageously high margins and are surprised that they have not done as well.
However, RIM's Blackberry-based tablet should be much less expensive anyway. It is smaller with a 7-inch LCD touchscreen. It is the screen in a tablet PC that costs the most money to make.
With 1GB of RAM it will have four times the memory of the Ipad. It will have an HDMI video output and dual cameras. Most importantly, it will be aimed at the corporate market and will run Adobe Flash and Air. Apple has ignored user demands and insists that its machines not run Flash.
If RIM can come out at a price point significantly lower than the Ipad it could kill off Jobs' Mob's tablet push into the corporate market.
Companies have been under pressure to provide workers with tablets, howeverIT managers with any sense will not allow Apple's infamous faith-based security on their networks. RIM systems have the advantage that they play well with corporate networks and have security systems in place.
It just depends on whether RIM can get the price right.
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