Are you b’RIM’ming with skepticism?

Are you b’RIM’ming with skepticism?

Blackberry’s going to show off its goods to consumers across the UAE...will the PlayBook catch your fancy?

June 20, 2011 2:13 by kippreport

It’s been touch and go for RIM over the past few months. Not only did RIM shares fall 21.5 percent last Friday on the New York Stock Exchange, the company’s net profit fell 9.6 per cent to $695 million in Q1. And things are not looking too good: revenue for Q2 is expected to be between $4.2 billion and $4.8billion.

Things were looking much brighter in the beginning of the year. Although it has to be said that Blackberry is yet to release a major new and improved BB since its latest one in August.

But of course there is the BB Playbook, the launch of which was marred with some confusion about the date. There were earlier reports that the tablet’s UAE launch would be delayed to June 25. In the end though, the company did deliver and the Playbook is readily available in a number of tech retailers across the country.

Stepping up efforts to stay in the game, RIM has just announced, to quote its press release, “it will be showcasing the new BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet in various mall locations across the UAE in June and July… PlayBook experience zones’ will be available in the following locations from 22 June to 10 July: Marina Mall, Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Mall, Mall of the Emirates, Dubai and Dubai Mall.”

In the tech race, timing is everything isn’t it? And only time will tell if the Playbook will make its way into the more hands across the UAE.

We know some of Kipp’s readers are hard core BB-loyalists: in fact you are probably reading this on your own BB. So do you think that Blackberry is still relevant? And are you considering going the Playbook way?