RIM DROPS PLAYBOOK PRICES $300

In a desperate attempt to increase sales on its maligned Blackberry Playbook, RIM has cut the price by $300. The new price for the 16GB model is just $199.99 and $299.99 and $399.99 on the 32GB and 64GB respectively.

After selling 500,000 PlayBooks into channels during the tablet’s first quarter of availability, RIM sold just 200,000 units to distributors last quarter. Analyst checks indicate that sell-through is stalling as well, so a huge sale like this could be a last hurrah for the tablet. Users might enjoy the PlayBook if they give it a test drive, but a lack of apps, no PIM or email support and a lack of compelling features compared to the competition have kept the ball in Apple and Google’s court. Now, with a $199 Kindle Fire and $249 Nook Tablet having been released, the PlayBook’s odds drop even lower.