RIM struggling to fix PlayBook tablet battery issues, analyst says
Research in Motion is unable to match the iPad's longer battery life with its prototype PlayBook tablets, which get just a "few hours" of battery life, according to one analyst.
Analyst Shaw Wu of Kaufman Bros. issued a note to investors Tuesday warning that engineering issues with the BlackBerry PlayBook's battery life could be the cause of delays. According to Wu, the PlayBook's "relatively poor battery life of a few hours" needs improvement. By comparison, Apple's iPad gets 10 hours of battery life and the Android-based Samsung Galaxy Tab gets 6 hours.
The battery issue could "require a bit of re-engineering," said Wu, and is "likely why RIMM pushed out its launch to the May 2011 quarter." RIM had promised a first quarter 2011 launch for the PlayBook, but left the tablet off its projected revenues for its next fiscal quarter, which ends Feb. 26.
According to Wu, these battery problems have arisen partly because "QNX wasn't originally designed for mobile environments." RIM bought QNX, which makes operating systems for everything from "cars to nuclear reactors," earlier this year.
The note also addresses several other concerns over RIM. The analyst sees good progress being made on QNX, but found that developers are "questioning the wisdom" of maintaining two operating systems, BlackBerry OS 6 and QNX. Another concern for Wu is app store monetization for the BlackBerry platform, which lacks the varied app selection that Apple offers in its App Store.
Despite these concerns, RIM's Jim Balsillie has insisted that the PlayBook is "way ahead" of the iPad. Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis recently said in an interview that the PlayBook OS is will lead RIM into the "next decade of mobile computing."
Wu maintained his "hold" rating for RIM, keeping the stock's price target at $60. RIM stock closed at $58.02 on Tuesday.
Wu also emphasized his position that the iPad will continue to dominate the tablet market. "As we have said before, we are not convinced that tablets outside of the iPad will see high volume success," he wrote in the note.
Though "public expectations" project between 1 million to 8 million PlayBook units sold in 2011, Wu has a conservative estimate of just 700,000 PlayBooks sold next year.
700,000 PlayBooks would likely be a small fraction of the number of iPads sold by Apple in 2011. Apple announced in May that it had sold 1 million iPads in just 28 days from launch. During Apple's most recent quarter, the iPad maker sold 4.19 million units of the popular tablet device.
A new report from DigiTimes suggests that Apple will produce about 40 million iPads next year, though an earlier report had suggested Apple may produce as many as 6 million second-generation iPads per month.
Analyst Shaw Wu of Kaufman Bros. issued a note to investors Tuesday warning that engineering issues with the BlackBerry PlayBook's battery life could be the cause of delays. According to Wu, the PlayBook's "relatively poor battery life of a few hours" needs improvement. By comparison, Apple's iPad gets 10 hours of battery life and the Android-based Samsung Galaxy Tab gets 6 hours.
The battery issue could "require a bit of re-engineering," said Wu, and is "likely why RIMM pushed out its launch to the May 2011 quarter." RIM had promised a first quarter 2011 launch for the PlayBook, but left the tablet off its projected revenues for its next fiscal quarter, which ends Feb. 26.
According to Wu, these battery problems have arisen partly because "QNX wasn't originally designed for mobile environments." RIM bought QNX, which makes operating systems for everything from "cars to nuclear reactors," earlier this year.
The note also addresses several other concerns over RIM. The analyst sees good progress being made on QNX, but found that developers are "questioning the wisdom" of maintaining two operating systems, BlackBerry OS 6 and QNX. Another concern for Wu is app store monetization for the BlackBerry platform, which lacks the varied app selection that Apple offers in its App Store.
Despite these concerns, RIM's Jim Balsillie has insisted that the PlayBook is "way ahead" of the iPad. Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis recently said in an interview that the PlayBook OS is will lead RIM into the "next decade of mobile computing."
Wu maintained his "hold" rating for RIM, keeping the stock's price target at $60. RIM stock closed at $58.02 on Tuesday.
Wu also emphasized his position that the iPad will continue to dominate the tablet market. "As we have said before, we are not convinced that tablets outside of the iPad will see high volume success," he wrote in the note.
Though "public expectations" project between 1 million to 8 million PlayBook units sold in 2011, Wu has a conservative estimate of just 700,000 PlayBooks sold next year.
700,000 PlayBooks would likely be a small fraction of the number of iPads sold by Apple in 2011. Apple announced in May that it had sold 1 million iPads in just 28 days from launch. During Apple's most recent quarter, the iPad maker sold 4.19 million units of the popular tablet device.
A new report from DigiTimes suggests that Apple will produce about 40 million iPads next year, though an earlier report had suggested Apple may produce as many as 6 million second-generation iPads per month.
Comments
According to Wu, these battery problems have arisen partly because "QNX wasn't originally designed for mobile environments."
Eh?? Come again?
This is RIM we're talking about. Everything they do is about being "mobile".
This being after the CEO was chest-thumping the superiority of the PlayBook over Apple's offering?
Though "public expectations" project between 1 million to 8 million PlayBook units sold in 2011, Wu has a conservative estimate of just 700,000 PlayBooks sold next year.
Might as well say from 1 PlayBook to 8 million
It's a dual-core CPU?
It runs Flash?
It's a small footprint, meaning smaller battery?
Darn... the reasons are just alluding me! </sarcasm>
These are the same mistakes that everyone else continue to make yet never learn. Can't anyone else besides Apple be more pro-active when developing a long-lasting product? Is it really that difficult to write on a piece of paper, "must run fast, light, and long-lasting" and go from there?
Uninstall Adobe Flash?
Best. Comment. Ever.
Analyst Shaw Wu of Kaufman Bros. issued a note to investors Tuesday warning that engineering issues with the BlackBerry PlayBook's battery life could be the cause of delays.
I have to agree with those that say this is still vapourware. With no dual-core demos (at least none I?ve seen), no price point, and no release date this can go anywhere at this point.
According to Wu, these battery problems have arisen partly because "QNX wasn't originally designed for mobile environments."
Neither was Mac OS X/Darwin/NeXTSTEP, WebKit, QuickTime, etc. but Apple made it efficient enough for mobiles. Just give RiM another decade and I?m sure they?ll work it out with QNX? assuming they are still in business then.
The note also addresses several other concerns over RIM. The analyst sees good progress being made on QNX, but found that developers are "questioning the wisdom" of maintaining two operating systems, BlackBerry OS 6 and QNX. Another concern for Wu is app store monetization for the BlackBerry platform, which lacks the varied app selection that Apple offers in its App Store.
They have no choice if they want a chance for a future. Devs will fall away from BB OS, but how much development has been going with it anyway? What is the benefit of sticking with BB OS for the unyielding future? They surely won?t maintain any devs with that plan.
Despite these concerns, RIM's Jim Balsillie has insisted that the PlayBook is "way ahead" of the iPad. Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis recently said in an interview that the PlayBook OS is will lead RIM into the "next decade of mobile computing."
Well, he might be right there. The PlayBook?s resource heavy OS is designed to run HW that Apple won?t need in the iPad for another decade.
Nokia, Sony and RIM all need to focus on code. These companies have so much potential outside of this myopic and antiquated view that making a flashy HW casing or some pointless spec sheet items are the only things you need to make a good product.
Uninstall Adobe Flash?
Eh?? Come again?
This is RIM we're talking about. Everything they do is about being "mobile".
This being after the CEO was chest-thumping the superiority of the PlayBook over Apple's offering?
RIM only recently bought QNX and indeed, it was not designed for mobile phone OSes. It's typically in higher powered devices w/a constant power supply.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qnx
Uninstall Adobe Flash?
Uninstall Adobe Air. Who needs a GUI anyway? Real users use a shell.
They were fools to pre-announce so early, and to "compete" with features in today's iPad. Sad really.
Neither was Mac OS X/Darwin/NeXTSTEP, WebKit, QuickTime, etc. but Apple made it efficient enough for mobiles.
The difference is that apple spent years to pare back and refine the software to ensure the user experience worked on the iPhone/iPad.
Rim's work on their frankentablet amounted to taking qnx, adobe air, cortex a9, and whatever UI they've cobbled together and throw it all against a wall and see what sticks.
If they want to make a competitive product, Rim needs to take their time to produce a solid device that competes with the iPad.
One iPad killer's down for the count, let's see how long it takes for HP's iPad killer to bite the dust.
The thing isn't even out yet and yet it's both "way ahead" and way behind. Sigh.
Uninstall Adobe Flash?
The difference is that apple spent years to pare back and refine the software to ensure the user experience worked on the iPhone/iPad.
Rim's work on their frankentablet amounted to taking qnx, adobe air, cortex a9, and whatever UI they've cobbled together and throw it all against a wall and see what sticks.
If they want to make a competitive product, Rim needs to take their time to produce a solid device that competes with the iPad.
One iPad killer's down for the count, let's see how long it takes for HP's iPad killer to bite the dust.
The problem is...
Why announce a product that is not even finished?
Storm 2, strike 2
Playbook, strike 3?
i thought with two genius CEO's RIM was twice as smart as everyone else (four times as smart as MS).