BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd announced its plan to stop the production of its cheapest model of 16GB PlayBook tablet. But the company has assured that it will still be in the tablet space offering the 32 and 64GB versions going forward.
Engadget has posted an official statement from the RIM PR, "RIM will no longer be making the 16 GB model of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. The 16 GB PlayBook will continue to be available for distributors and retailers while quantities last. We continue to remain committed to the tablet space and the 32 GB and 64 GB models of the BlackBerry PlayBook continue to be available from our distributors and retailers around the world. There is more value for our customers in the higher capacity models (32 GB, 64 GB), and as such we have decided to focus our efforts here."
RIM also informed Crackberry that "there is more value for our customers in the higher capacity models (32 GB, 64 GB), and as such we have decided to focus our efforts there."
Crackberry also posted a report from a Forum member ubermanx who received an email from RIM on May 5. The mail also makes it clear that the company will not be offering the 16GB model in the future, though the 32GB and 64GB will still be available.
Meanwhile, Blackberry Playbook lovers can still buy 16GB models as the device will not be pulled from markets right now and as plenty of retailers still have the device stocked in both store and online. But the 16GB versions will not be replenished once the storage is over.
Experts believe that the reasons for pulling off the 16GB model are the meager storage space of the device and recent price decline which caused lower profit margins on the smallest memory version for RIM.
The 16 GB version of the Playbook used to come with a price tag of $199, while the 32 GB and 64 GB models are priced at $249 and $299, respectively. RIM has sold more than half a million PlayBooks in the three months to early March, which is negligible when compared to key competitor Apple.
