RIM's PlayBook finally gets email but is it too late given iPad 3 rumours?

TORONTO - Ten months after the release of Research in Motion's (TSX:RIM) first tablet, the device finally has an app to access email.

But analysts say it may be too late for the Waterloo, Ont.-based company to make a dent in the tablet market, particularly with a new iPad rumoured to be on the way, possibly within weeks.

RIM released an update for its PlayBook tablet Tuesday, adding a host of features including the ability to access email without connecting to a BlackBerry or using a web-based account. The email app can consolidate corporate and personal accounts as well as messages from social networks including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

"I think it's nice, but as most would say, it really should've been there a year ago when they initially launched. And I don't think that (update) alone really changes the game," said Mark Tauschek, lead research analyst for Info-Tech Research Group.

"It's just so difficult to break into this market or really significantly change it at this point."

The 2.0 version of the PlayBook operating system also includes web browser enhancements, new calendar, contacts and video chat apps, and an updated version of BlackBerry Bridge. That app allows users to control a BlackBerry as though it were a remote control for a PlayBook. Users can also open a document on a BlackBerry and have it viewed on a PlayBook.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky said Tuesday's software update is in line with expectations but still lacks at least a couple of important features, including the ability to use RIM's popular BlackBerry Messenger app and backwards compatibility with BlackBerry Enterprise Server.

About 11 per cent of anglophone Canadians said they owned a tablet late last year, according to research by the Media Technology Monitor, which conducted surveys between Oct. 3 and Nov. 20, 2011. The vast majority, about 71 per cent, said they owned an iPad, while 13 per cent said they had a PlayBook. Another 13 per cent said they had a competing tablet device and three per cent said they didn't know the brand of their tablet.

In an interview, RIM senior product manager Michael Clewley emphasized the PlayBook's productivity features when asked what he would say to a tablet buyer considering a range of different tablets.

"BlackBerry is for people who like to get things done, it's for those who want tools to be successful in life — whether it's successful in managing your home life, managing your personal life and communicating with your friends and family — and that's the best of what we do and we've brought that to this product," Clewley said.

"In addition to that, it still allows you to have a lot of fun with the product as well, there's a lot of great applications, a lot of great games."

But Tauschek said RIM has a real problem when it comes to its app availability, which consumers value highly when choosing a tablet.

BlackBerry App World is far behind Apple's App Store and Google's Android Market in terms of selection, although a number of high-profile titles have become available for the PlayBook recently, including "Angry Birds," "Cut the Rope" and "Plants vs. Zombies."

RIM also said thousands of new apps would be added to its BlackBerry App World on Tuesday, including some that were originally designed for Google's Android platform.

But RIM still has a quality and quantity problem when it comes to apps, Tauschek said, and even having a few technical edges over the iPad hasn't helped the PlayBook gain traction.

"It's not so much about the hardware now," he said.

"It's really more about what you can do on it and the applications that are available for it. It's really just a tough world and a tough market for RIM right now. No longer can they rely on the enterprise market because it's rapidly shifting towards those devices that do have a rich app ecosystem that you can do a lot more with."

RIM continues to sell the PlayBook at a discount, with the cheapest 16-gigabyte version typically going for about $200, compared to the $500 it was priced at last spring.

That RIM was forced to slash the PlayBook's price to boost interest suggests the company may have erred in getting in the tablet business, said Iain Grant of the Seaboard Group.

"RIM's woes are not just tied to the PlayBook and I think the PlayBook in fact may be a distraction for them, to take a finite competitive resource and split your bets," Grant said.

"The PlayBook might be viewed as a mistake."

Even the low price and the PlayBook's new features may not sway consumers currently in the market for a new tablet, given that Apple is rumoured to be prepping an announcement for March 7 and speculation online is centred on a new iPad.

The first iPad was released in April 2010 and the iPad 2 went on sale in March 2011.

"An iPad 3 launch will just completely quell any noise or excitement there is around the PlayBook," Tauschek said.

"And there's not even a ton of buzz or excitement about PlayBook's OS 2.0, really most of the buzz is that this is what they should have launched almost a year ago."

RIM recently replaced long-time co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis with its chief operating officer Thorsten Heins. It was an attempt to turn around its market share and successfully launch the next generation of its BlackBerry smartphones.

RIM's problems over the past year have been compounded by disappointing sales of its PlayBook tablet and a four-day BlackBerry service outage last fall that affected users around the globe.