PlayBook sold out in India, RIM extends festive offer by a week

Within days of slashing prices of its PlayBook tablet PC by almost half, Blackberry-maker RIM has said the device is sold out in retail outlets across the country, which has prompted it to extend the festive offer by a week.

"We are pleased to see the excitement and overwhelming response to our limited festive season offer on BlackBerry PlayBook. I believe that the 16-GB and 32-GB version of the PlayBook is completely sold out in the retail channels," Research In Motion Managing Director India Sunil Dutt said.

Buoyed by the huge response, the company has now decided to extend the offer by a week, he said.

The company sold more than 12,000 devices in just four days since the offer was announced on December 28 and distributors -- Redington and Ingram -- are waiting for new stock to come in.

"This limited festive offer has propelled a huge surge in PlayBook purchases in the last few days. We have sold over 12,000 PlayBooks across the country within these four days of the offer period, which ended on December 31, 2011," the distributors said.

Fresh stock is coming in to cater to the demand of customers for the extended offer period of one more week, they added.

Canadian firm Research In Motion (RIM) has slashed the price of its PlayBook by more than half to Rs 13,490 for the 16-GB version to cash in on the festive season and rising demand for tablet PCs in India.

A tablet PC, though smaller in size, has PC-like functionalities.

"BlackBerry continues to be an aspirational brand and we have seen a huge uptake in the market across the country for PlayBook during this offer period," Dutt said.

RIM, known for its BlackBerry series of phones, had introduced PlayBook in June in the Indian market.

The 16-GB version of the PlayBook is available at a more than 50 per cent discount from the regular price of Rs 27,990. Prices for 32 GB and 64 GB versions were also cut. The 32-GB version was available at Rs 15,990, while the 64-GB model was priced at Rs 24,490 under the offer.

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