Analyst sees solid demand for BlackBerry Torch; PlayBook sales to be unimpressive

By on Dec 7, 2010 at 9:50 AM
mobile December 7, 2010

In a note to investors Monday, Barclays Capital analyst Jeff Kvaal restated his “overweight” rating and set an $85 target for shares of RIM’s stock. Kvaal thinks the company will report a solid third quarter, and he believes current demand for the BlackBerry Torch to be “solid.” AT&T’s decision to drop the BlackBerry Torch to $99 last month played a big role in bolstering sales, the analyst believes, and he raised his Q3 estimates from 13.9 million units to 14.1 million as a result. Moving on to 2011, Kvaal sees RIM launching several handsets in the first half of 2011, including an update to the Curve 8900, a “Touch Bold” and a third version of the BlackBerry Storm. Sales of RIM’s first QNX-based tablet are projected to be quite low, however, and QNX-based handsets are not expected until the second half of 2011 at the earliest. Kvaal estimates BlackBerry PlayBook sales of 3 million units in 2011, and Gleacher & Co. analyst Mark McKechnie estimates PlayBook sales of only 1.8 million units through February 2012.

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  • Jcman769

    That’s not too many people to play words with friends with 0_o

  • MyPhoneCaptivates

    they playbook looks so freakin’ sweet, but….I’m an android fanboy and I’ll wait for my honeycomb before I get a tablet.

  • mangenius

    Playbook forecasts seem quite low.. Not sure I agree with that statement

  • Hildrethdereck

    I love my torch

    • DTownTony

      You should be careful. I’m pretty sure you’re not allowed to say something positive about a non-Apple product on here unless you finish the sentence with a negative comparison that builds up the Apple brand ie “I love my Torch, because its almost a rectangle just like the iPhone”

      • Hildrethdereck

        Idc wat these people think the torch n blkberry work for me n yes i agree bgr is a little pro apple

    • iMiiTH

      Same here.

      A little rough start with the software. But now it’s just amazing.

      My average battery drain is 3.5% an hour, and that’s with a couple hours of 3G web browsing and messaging.

  • Len

    Those estimates are low in my opinion. RIM doesn’t have the benefit of hype which Apple has. However I’m pretty sure the Playbook will be impressive. The specs are great and the UI seems very intuitive so far. It’s visual and artistic compared to iPads boring grid of icons.

    An 8 gb version for a lower price is genius. This will be great for the coroporate space as they don’t need as much space as a consumer would. Sell it at $100 less than the introductory iPad is a good strategy. That’s $100 saved per tablet, not to mention it offers a far more secure and reliable OS in QNX.

    Security is a great feature in that once the bluetooth tethering connection is lost with the BlackBerry, no information is stored on the Playbook. It isn’t even cached. Therefore having a Playbook stolen will not lead to having lost valuable company/personal information.

    Overall, I would say that the Playbook is far better tablet to the point you cannot even compare the two. However Apple has the better app store. If BB can ramp up the quality and quantity of their apps for launch, this will revitalize RIM.

  • Big Papi

    This “touch Bold” better have the form factor of the 9000

    Outside of that, it won’t be a purchase

  • LGR

    dont care what the forecasts are i’m getting the playbook and when the qnx bb’s arrive im buying that one too..
    bb’s are good devices that do what they are build for.. communicate!!

    dont need a appstore filled with crap, 1000 apps same thing just another color/flavour.. offcourse there’s alot of nice apps between them but i’m not an app junkie and really dont need all that “extra”.

    As long as i can communicate (ping), send text(mail, etc), phonecalls, and browse when i need to find something without to much “bla” im happy.. and thats exactly what my blackberry offers…
    Good & secure communication without to much “BLA”

    I’m looking forward for the QNX&RIM phones!

    (p.s.) im not a apple or android hater i’ve had both and liked them :) (jailbroken&rooted offcourse)

    • Anonymous

      I agree with you but saying that I did drop BB recently as my daily driver.

      I do not have faith in them when it comes to QNX on a handset as of yet, S3 would be the best hope of that. OS6 is still very new and I don’t see them moving off it right away. OS6 and the current hardware lacks for anyone that does want to do more than you and I see that set to continue into late next year.

      The Bold touch will run OS6 for sure, thats what it was made for and just continues on what they already have. The Playbook will be a decent tablet, I just don’t see the need for tablets and netbooks in my life with a decent laptop and very capable cell phone.

  • Wizzuy

    playbook demo’s leaked thus far look very impressive – the android tablet doens’t look like it has anything new to offer

  • RealTalk

    I dont care what they say, the Playbook is awesome and a must have for me!!! Playbook > iPad

    • gquaglia

      Considering it’s not out yet and won’t be out for some time, that’s quite a leap of faith for a company that has shown over the past few years that they are out of touch.

      • iMiiTH

        Considering that the iPad will never have real multitasking or flash.

        Almost all tablets simular in hardware will beat it.

  • DH

    Haha I read BGR everday but hardly ever post. This guy is out of touch with reality. I am getting a Playbook (I might wait for the 4G version though). I own a BB and I agree with everybody who has flamed RIM for producing subpar hardware in the past. However, the Playbook does not fall in this category… it is a beast… it will sell

  • Guest

    i hope the torch comes to verizon by Q1 or Q2 next year when my contract is up…

  • http://phonecan.com Epik

    Storm Schmorm. That ship was blown out to sea a long time ago.

  • http://phonecan.com Epik

    Storm Schmorm. That ship was blown out to sea a long time ago.

  • Anonymous

    Let’s just hope that rim doesn’t take customers looking for a iPad experience and give them a experience from hell like what they have done before. People looking for a iPhone like experience got a experience from hell with the Blackberry Storm 1 & 2, me included.

  • Terencewade04

    Kvaal sees RIM launching several handsets in the first half of 2011, including an update to the Curve 8900, a “Touch Bold” and a third version of the BlackBerry Storm.

    Lets see if Sprint gets a new Blackberry…….i dont want a updated Curve, im sure we wont get the storm 3 so that only leaves the “touch bold”…..*looking at watch while tapping my foot* lets see where this goes….

  • max

    Torch demand good? It’s ancient technology already and months into release. It’s only downhill from release. RIM job is losing markrtshare rapidly. Tech morons are even abandoning it, slowly giving up their gollum-like “precious” messenger. BB morons won’t even pay for a lousy 7″ screen.

    • Shanghai Dan

      Over fourteen MILLION Torches sold. That’s more than the 13.5 million iPhones sold. I’d say the demand is good – VERY good.

    • iMiiTH

      Don’t talk if you’ve never even used one.

  • Anonymous

    Call me when the real world specs are released. Battery life? Weight? Cams? New iPad will be released same time. iPad momentum kills all in its way.

  • Anonymous

    I’ll say it again, I feel sorry for who ever buys the Playbook without first trying it out themselves. Reminds me of the Storm 1 & 2, Nothing was more solid then those 2, Lmao.

  • http://twitter.com/Jamies_Tech Jamie’s Tech

    They just released a new bold. like it hasn’t even hit AT&T yet. Im fairly sure that a Bold-esque touchscreen phone is coming from RIM but they wouldn’t drop a new Bold 6 months after they released the previous generation

  • Anonymous

    people actually buy the torch? hahahaha!!!! suckers!

  • Anonymous

    I’m not buying any of this…. The Torch is a FAIL (and RIM realizes this, that’s why AT&T dropped the price) whereas the specs on the PlayBook are phenomenal and far exceed the iPad garbage. Sounds again like someone is playing favorites.

  • Edge6

    So essentially RIM ate a bunch of discarded Storm & Bold parts, pooped out a phone they called the Torch, and now they’re on track to sell 14M units? I’m not even mad, that’s amazing.

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