‘RIM overplayed the PlayBook’ analyst says; tablet expected to miss sales estimates

Research In Motion will report its quarterly earnings on Thursday and analysts predict that it will miss sales estimates for its BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. A group of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg estimate RIM sold 490,000 PlayBooks during the quarter and predict, on average, the Waterloo, Canada-based company will sell a total of 2.2 million BlackBerry PlayBooks for the year. By comparison, Apple shipped 9.25 million iPads during the last quarter. “RIM overplayed the PlayBook in terms of its sales and prospects,” Needham & Co analyst Charlie Wolf told Bloomberg. “What this really shows is that the company’s prospects will depend on the next generation of BlackBerrys.” RIM recently introduced its first batch of BlackBerry 7 powered smartphones and we gave the devices lukewarm reviews. Its first QNX-powered smartphone, the BlackBerry Colt, is expected to launch during the first quarter of 2012. “RIM hasn’t given up on the PlayBook, but it’s clearly off to a poor start,” Canaccord Genuity analyst Michael Walkley said. Walkley estimates RIM will ship 1.5 million PlayBooks this year. Samsung is expected to ship 7 million tablets and Apple will sell 39.2 million iPads, Walkley said.

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