RIM Denies PlayBook WiFi Cancelation Rumors

RIM has strongly denied reports that the WiFi-only version of the BlackBerry PlayBook could be discontinued, describing the speculation as "pure fiction." The company is yet to confirm sales of the PlayBook, only a 500,000 shipment figure for Q1, and has supposedly slashed sales projections for Q2.

Talk of an early cancellation was ignited by RBC Capital Markets Managing Director Mike Abramsky, who suggested in a note to investors that RIM could shutter the WiFi-only version of the slate and instead focus on carrier variants. Ceasing production now, Abramsky claimed, would still allow RIM's remaining channel inventory to satisfy what demand for the PlayBook remained.

However, in a Twitter message from the official RIM account to BGR, the company insisted that there was "no plan to discontinue" and that "in fact, [the] WiFi PlayBook is launching in new countries practically every week." Nonetheless, with RIM's quarterly sales figures proving disappointing, and talk of layoffs among the workforce, whether the PlayBook is really doing its part to turn around the Canadian company's decline is arguable.