Blackberry Pauses Tablet Development

Research In Motion’s new BlackBerry Playbook seems to have stalled out of the gate as the developer has recently announced that they are halting development of the tablet and will no longer be releasing the larger 10-inch model. While this version of the device was never officially announced, the industry was aware that BlackBerry was following up the current 7-inch Playbook with a bigger brother that would allow for easier viewing on the device. However, according to Blackberry’s official press site, N4BB, all further tablets have been put on hold for the time being in order to focus on making the current Playbook as premium as possible.

This might actually be a lot to ask of the manufacturer as the recently launched tablet device was a bit on the buggy side and is still missing a few other specs that were promised when originally announced. Additionally, some of the devices were shipped without the BlackBerry emailing system installed. Choosing to spend time improving and delivering exceptional results with its current device could prove to be much more beneficial than rushing another product out; customers do not want to buy a second generation tablet when the first generation was a let-down.

The BlackBerry website gave the official explanation that the mobile phone manufacturer will take the time previously devoted to developing a new tablet device and instead reallocate it towards the production of the next generation of BlackBerry smartphones, which they have dubbed "super-phones". The new mobile phones will reportedly carry the same processing power as the BlackBerry Bold and will run the same QNX operating system that is being used in the Playbook. It is also rumoured that the next handset will include a 4.3 inch touchscreen with an incredibly high resolution, especially for a BlackBerry product.

All of this new development in the RIM labs could be why they have seen their slice of market share drop slightly over the past couple of quarters. After a low number of initial sales on the Playbook, the company has lowered their forecasted sales numbers for the rest of the year as they believe the number of units moving off the shelves could slow even further.

So perhaps the decision to backpedal away from what was originally envisioned to be a glorious year of creative expansion for the BlackBerry family into the tablet world is the right one. The developers can focus on improving the Playbook model they may have released a little prematurely and put extra effort into the smartphone of the future.