PlayBook OS delay will have little impact on business, say analysts

They're 'little more than flashy toys' and 'not being chosen for their technical features' they say

Analysts have warned businesses not to "overreact" to the news that BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion (RIM) has delayed a much-needed update to its PlayBook tablet, because staff are actually "a long way off using them in everyday business IT".

David Smith, RIM senior vice president, said in a post on the firm's blog that the latest incarnation of the operating system was not up to standard. He also said that the new version will be released without the popular BlackBerry Messenger.

However, Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel, told Computing that the important thing is that RIM "gets it right for businesses" before it goes to market.

"There was lots of negative reaction to the first release and so it's much better to hold off than bring in interim changes," he said.

"I don't see how it's detrimental to RIM - BlackBerrys are used by so many businesses and the users can get emails etc, so why do you need new kit?

"The [PlayBook] is still just a flashy toy to many and by no means a replacement for PCs and laptops."

He added that in terms of BlackBerry Messenger compatibility, "I think people prefer to use it on their phones anyway".

Deloitte's senior manager in strategy consulting, Matt Guest, argued that the PlayBook is more than just a flashy toy, but he also envisaged slow uptake at a business level.

"People need to know how to use them properly and so you can imagine that taking time in a managed IT environment," he said.

Guest added that, while the 2.0 upgrade issue was embarrassing for RIM and not great for its relations with the developer community, it is a small part of a wider dynamic in the tablet industry.

"If you look at the distribution of tablet sales so far, it almost exactly follows the distribution of wealth in the population, which suggests that early adopters are buying as a luxury and therefore buying on appearance, brand and reputation as much as they're buying on the technical features of the platform."

Gavin Byrne, principal analyst at CSI Insights, added: "I just think the whole thing was managed badly. Having made promises just a few months back, you would have thought RIM would have had more of an idea that this update would be late."