More iPads Shipped Daily Than BlackBerry PlayBooks Each Quarter

It's no secret that the iPad is the most successful tablet computer on the market by a giant margin, but a statistic in RIM's recent earnings call on the sales of their own BlackBerry PlayBook should flip your lid. Noting that they'd had sales of 130,000 units with the PlayBook throughout the last quarter, Research in Motion inadvertently showed how the tablet is doing up against its Apple competitor. In comparison, Apple's most recent earnings report showed the company to be selling approximately 188 thousand iPads a day.

The numbers make for an interesting comparison, even after one gets over the fact that 17 million iPads in a quarter is in an absolutely different universe than the PlayBook's 130k of their own unit. It's not the same market, on the other hand, as the iPad continues to market their device as the dominant device in the field – it's not a tablet, it's an iPad – while the PlayBook is still aimed very much at the hobby user – and businesses. RIM just released an update to the PlayBook's software this week bringing up to a newly business-friendly level of compliance, mind you.

It's not as if RIM isn't marketing the PlayBook, on the other hand. They've not yet given a hint as to how or even if they'll ever release another tablet again, and do indeed continue to manufacture this unit from not months, but years ago. Have a peek back at our full review of the BlackBerry PlayBook to see how things were back in the old times. Now we're here in 2012 with not just software superiority from both iOS and Android, we've got hardware from all companies coming in and leaving the PlayBook very much in the past – even the Kindle Fire, a device that was originally modeled after the PlayBook, no longer takes cues from BlackBerry's designers.

The iPad is also preparing to receive a baby brother – or so the rumors say – with the iPad mini legend finally coming to a place where it might become reality. With a size that's just about as close to the PlayBook as it could be and features that place the hammer down on the heart of the BlackBerry tablet, Apple will – possibly – finally cut the life cord from that device.

[via WSJ]