Analyst reactions to RIM’s new PlayBook have been mostly positive, yet its slumping stock price probably best tells the story.
RIM’s share price fell more than 2% to 48.47 last night and it is trading at multiples of less than half of even Nokia, notes FT’s Lex.
But RBC analyst Mike Abramsky says the new tablet may be “cheaper [and] more productive than iPad for enterprises” because it offers no additional connection charges or licenses, All Things Digital reported.
Analyst Steven Li at Raymond James said the PlayBook showed RIM could compete effectively on hardware.
Ovum likes its market prospects, saying the device – unveiled early this week - looked a “strong contender” against the iPad. It argues Playbook’s big advantage is that many businesses already have BlackBerry smartphones deployed, and are using the BlackBerry Enterprise Server product to manage their connectivity.
“Enterprise IT managers understand the security and device management advantages that BlackBerry has over Apple, and RIM will maintain these advantages with the PlayBook, which is fully compatible with existing BlackBerry services.”