RIM's PlayBook: 3.3 million units a smidge more than a year from now?

Research in Motion's PlayBook is garnering some enterprise and analyst attention as expectations steadily rise for the tablet.

Nevermind that few folks have really played with the tablet, analysts have to model something for their spreadsheets and projections. Oppenheimer analyst Ittai Kidron was among the first to take a stab at estimating PlayBook sales.

In a nutshell, Kidron said:

• RIM will sell 100,000 PlayBook units in the fiscal fourth quarter ending Feb. 28.
• For fiscal 2012---a year from February---RIM will have sold 3.2 million units at an average selling price of $540.
• Add it up and you'll have 3.3 million PlayBook units in the market.

Why the optimism? Kidron cites enterprise interest from the likes of Sun Life, Manulife and SAP as a sign that the product may have legs. Companies are at least interested in piloting the PlayBook.

Kidron said:

If executed properly, the PlayBook could help RIM defend its enterprise leadership against intensifying competition from Apple, Android and WP7. With that said, much uncertainty remains and we're not convinced RIM has successfully addressed its competitive smartphone gaps.

It's clear that RIM has an opportunity to strike in the tablet market. The one conundrum is that the PlayBook hasn't been put through its paces yet.

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• RIM intros SDK, PlayBook simulator for BlackBerry Tablet OS
• Analyst: Technical issues kept BlackBerry Playbook from a holiday season release
• BlackBerry Playbook: I'll believe it when I see it
• RIM targets business users with BlackBerry PlayBook
• RIM BlackBerry PlayBook (photos)
• RIM's 'PlayBook': Protect the enterprise house