When will the PlayBook hit shelves?
Originally, the RIM PlayBook tablet PC was set to launch in March but has been delayed to April 19th for testing reasons, but for another reason that has been widely unknown the tech world- it’s Apple’s fault.
According to DigiTimes, RIM was unable to purchase enough touch panels because Apple’s nearly $4 billion investment in the panels to guarantee they have a long term supply of LCDs, “Apple already booked up most of the available capacity.”
Even though the PlayBook has a 7″ screen and the iPad a 10″ screen, the number of producers are apparently quite limited, thus is production capacity.
In past years, Apple has seen part shortages, even as recently as the iPad launch and this purchase is not an illegal move to block competitors in our assessment, but much like their 2005 move to purchase long term flash-memory to avoid a shortage in the future.
Our research shows there is still a significant number of Realtors that are RIM/Blackberry fans and this production issue may spell out limited availability of the PlayBook, so if you’re interested, you should probably preorder or take a page from Mac fanboys and stand in line early for your tablet- they may not have any after the immediate launch.
