pic via @tuxpi
Shaw Wu, analyst with Kaufman Bros, recently said that the PlayBook launch is experiencing some delays due to the fact that currently, the device is experiencing relatively poor battery life. Apparently, the device’s charge will only last just a few hours, and while the device is still in development, RIM has had to postpone the launch to the May 2011 quarter.
“From our understanding, this [is] likely why RIMM pushed out its launch to the May 2011 quarter,” Wu writes. “Keep in mind that QNX (the OS on which PlayBook runs) wasn’t originally designed for mobile environments but rather for devices like network equipment and automobiles where battery life isn’t as much a constraint.”
It makes sense that the QNX OS, running multicore processors, would be a pretty significant battery drain. It’s possible that RIM will pack a larger battery into the device, or find a software workaround to mitigate the battery drain.
Other than the delays, Wu expects RIM to sell around 700,000 units in 2011, much less than the one to eight million that has been predicted elsewhere. In general, Kaufman Bros is very skeptical of tablets outside of iPad sales. We’ll see how right or wrong they are.
