Research In Motion Ltd. 's BlackBerry playbook, the tablet designed to compete with Apple Inc. IPAD Steve Jobs, is gaining corporate customers months before its debut.
Insurer Sun Life Financial Inc. agreed to buy up to 1,000 playbooks, and Canadian banking unit of ING Groep NV said it has also committed to purchase the device. Companies like Manulife Financial Corp. is testing the product, which goes on sale next quarter.
RIM first found success selling its BlackBerry smartphone for businesses and offers guarantees as trying to challenge the dominance of Apple in the booming market for tablets. RIM, based in Waterloo, Ontario, is betting on the security measures the playbook, such as email encryption, to win over companies accustomed to working with the BlackBerry.
"Encryption was really the deciding factor in choosing the playbook," said Tom Reid, vice president of Sun Life. Sun Life plans to buy between 500 and 1,000 playbooks initially and may increase that number because it starts to use more widely, he said.
Apple declined to comment, said spokeswoman Natalie Harrison. Last month, Apple said that more than 65 percent of the Fortune 100 companies are implementing or piloting the IPAD, such as Procter & Gamble Co., Lowe's Cos. and Hyatt Hotels Corp.
The Cupertino, California-based company sold 3 million iPads in the first 80 days after the product was released in April, showing that there is demand for a device that extends the gap between laptops and smartphones like the BlackBerry and the iPhone. Apple had a share of 95 percent of the tablet market last quarter, according to Strategy Analytics.
Carving a niche
Apple's dominance is a concern and I do not think it would be prudent to design the massive turnover "for the playbook," said Tero Kuittinen, an analyst at MKM Partners LP.
However, RIM has the opportunity to gain a foothold, said Stamford, Connecticut Kuittinen, who has a "buy" rating on the shares. Sale of 3,000,000 playbooks in 2011 would increase the sales of RIM and profits "significantly," he said. "This does not have to be a drive device for six to eight million RIM."
RIM rose $ 1.33, or 2.4 percent, to $ 57.25 on the Nasdaq Stock Market at 4 pm New York time. Apple rose $ 7.93, or 2.6 percent, to $ 308.43. RIM has fallen 15 percent this year as Apple rose 46 percent.
In addition to adding a source of income, the playbook is an opportunity for RIM to regain some momentum for Apple, whose iPhone has stolen market share from the BlackBerry and start winning some corporate customers. Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. are considering the possibility that employees use the iPhone as an alternative to BlackBerry, three people familiar with the plans said earlier this month.
Toronto-based Sun Life, the third largest insurance company in Canada, plans to allow new members of pension plan registration directly on the tablet and RIM has already built an application playbook, Reid's world first Instead, he said.
For the Canadian unit of Amsterdam-based ING, familiarity with the BlackBerry makes the playbook attractive, Chief Information Officer Kithulegoda Charaka said.
"The playbook fits nicely into the existing infrastructure, architecture, security policies, all we have in place," said Kithulegoda.
BlackBerry Investment
ING said it is to buy an unspecified number of playbooks for employees and is also building a banking application for customers.
The tablet is expected to connect to the BlackBerry server ING team "outside the box," meaning the company does not have many of the security concerns that would be faced with an unknown device, Kithulegoda said.
The playbook will sell for "below" $ 500, RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie said in an interview this month. IPAD starts at $ 499 for a model with 16 gigabytes of memory and the price rises for versions with more storage capacity. Version original playbook will connect to the Internet through a Wi-Fi or tethered to a BlackBerry user.
Manulife, the third largest insurance company in North America, is testing the playbook as part of the RIM playbook early development program, said Tom Nunn, a company spokesman based in Toronto. Manulife plans to use the playbook "to leverage our investment in the past" BlackBerry, "said Nunn.
War of words
Playbook features built to attract business users are its two cameras that allow video conferencing and a 7-inch (18 - centimeter) screen that makes the device more portable and easier to fit in a pocket coat or jacket that the iPad.
Apple CEO Jobs said the device last month as the playbook is "dead on arrival" because they are too small to compete with the iPad, which has a 9.7 inch screen.
That led to RIM to post a clip of the performance of the playbook on the Web, compared with the IPAD in performing various tasks, including Web browsing and video playback. Balsillie said the video shows the playbook is three to four times faster than its rival Apple.
ING Kithulegoda sold in the playbook of features. He just wants to enter the market more quickly and said it is in talks with RIM to get the playbook as soon as possible for trial.
"Yesterday would have been better, but I'll settle for the next year," he said.
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