[axeman1000]

I realize this has been discussed elsewhere and the general concensus, based on clues in BB10 promotional materials and talks, is that the Playbook is not being abandoned by Blackberry, and will be updated to BB10 sometime after BB10 phones launch. That would be great, of course.

But if that's true, then why the fire sale on all of the Playbook accessories? Why would the rapid charger be going for $11 today if there are going to be more playbooks sold in the future? Is it just a matter of these retailers managing their inventory? Wouldn't RIM take them back from the retailers in order to sell them for a good profit in the future? I don't know much about supply chain management and marketing, but this seems like strong evidence that the Playbook is going to die off, or that if some "Playbook" tablet will exist in the future then it won't use the same accessories.

Are you in the US? That seems to be the only market where they are crazy enough to believe that RIM is closing and going under and they are selling off everything at low or stupid prices!

[axeman1000]

According to Office Depot customer service the 64GB Playbook has been discontinued
see chat attachedAttachment 130059

So it seems the office depot reports it's news for products about as accurately as CNN!! Don't believe it. Rim made the announcement about the 16GB being done but NEVER anything about the 32 or 64!!

False info from customer service rep! Surprise surprise!!!

[bloodyrek]

Would it make sense to hide the existence of PB2 and launch with BB10 tho?

[SparkyBC]

As usual wrong information from non trained staff. They probably think RIM is bankrupt too.

[blueberrymerry]

RIM did the smart thing to bring in new Playbook users by slashing prices. More Playbooks out there mean more developers coming onboard, so hopefully that makes QNX/BB10 a more attractive ecosystem. A Qt developer could target Symbian, Meego, Jolla/Sailfish and BB10 using most of the same back-end code but the UI would need to use platform-specific widgets. A fourth ecosystem perhaps?

RIM will have to go through what Microsoft did when it shifted from WP7 to WP8 but there should be plenty of Playbook apps that can run on BB10 without modifications. That gives time for developers to re-code for the new platform. Not sure about Java apps on older phones, will those work out of the box with BB10?

[fernandez21]

Would it make sense to hide the existence of PB2 and launch with BB10 tho?

Yes, because if it was known they would be releasing a new version of the playbook then nobody would buy the current version.

[UnderBerry]

I think a 2nd generation wifi PB won't come maybe till later 2013 (Aug+)... So current PB's won't be discontinued so soon.
Let's hope the new 10 OS comes to PB soon with great improvements in customization and other (much needed) features/functions.

[RubberChicken76]

QFT
Stores buy products to sell them. They aren't on consignment for RIM where they make a portion from each sale the store makes.

Actually, a lot of retailers do essentially take products on a "consignment basis". They know full well that they have limited store shelf space and a lot of companies wanting to put products on those limited shelves in order to reach the public entering those stores. For every one product you find in BEST BUY, there are dozens of similar products that aren't on the shelves in BEST BUY. As such, the retailer commands the power.

In some of the really powerful chains, products are absolutely done 'on consignment'. Put it in our stores, if it sells, we take a cut. If it doesn't, we send it back (for a full refund). In some cases, we destroy it and don't send it back, but you credit us anyway. And BTW: you'll also need to pay us for premium placement, pay for your own merchandising and buy a certain amount of flyer advertising. And if it doesn't move ____ amount, we'll send it back.

RIM made their portion regardless of what the store sells the product for.

Almost no retailer would agree to that. If there's a sale price, the manufacturer will typically fund the promotion. If there's a price cut, the manufacturer will pay the retailer the difference between the sell-in price and the price cut (if the product was sold that way).

[RubberChicken76]

Still all over Amazon. I seriously doubt they would be discontinued without some public notice, especially since BB10 is coming to PB.

People are misconstruing "discontinuing older PlayBook SKUs" for "discontinuing the PlayBook line entirely".

There is a newer PlayBook ... a 1.5 GHZ, LTE, 32GB model ... first released in August. I keep repeating it, yet people keep saying "PlayBook is two years old". This has all the earmarks of cleaning up a retail mess that Thorsten inherited with the older PlayBook and taking a much more conservative approach with the newer PlayBook.

Rim made the announcement about the 16GB being done but NEVER anything about the 32 or 64!!

To be fair, they announced that they had sold out of the 16 GB model after it was 'sold out' and rumours were flying. This could be the same with the 64 GB version.

[CairnsRock]

Yes, because if it was known they would be releasing a new version of the playbook then nobody would buy the current version.

Well, relatively speaking, nobody did buy the current version except you and me.

[ALFIE74]

According to Office Depot customer service the 64GB Playbook has been discontinued
see chat attachedAttachment 130059

Same thing happened to me right before Christmas, but I was able to place the order for the 64gb for $149, was told was in back order and a couple of days later was told that it had been discontinued by the manufacturer. As a consolation prize, they send me a $75 gift card to office depot. Then I got it at wal-mart online for $199 and then another one for the wife at amazon for the same price.

[kdeckels]

When I got my wife's PB at Office Depot before Christmas, it was already on clearance. I think we have to be real; with all the price slashing, including accessories, somethings going on. The Playbook has already been on the market for an extended period for similar products; barring items like the ipad. Even though Crackberry has a nice little community here, many in the general population haven't even heard of the PB. This doesn't hindernits usability for me, but I'm also.being realistic that I may never see BB10.