PlayBook: Second Mover Advantage?

Remember this old post here?

So iPad chipped into that niche segment between the phone and a peecee and opened a pandoras box. It enabled a segment of tablet pcs whose capabilities have grown beyond imagination.

In came a series of Android powered devices which benefited from the comfort of a ‘known’ OS, and played on the form factor. The iPhones’ and the Androids’ of the world attacked the BlackBerry platform. Something that was once touted as the king of business phones had some neat, jazzy and mighty able competition. The tablets would have further worsen it.

The first mover advantage was lost to the iPad which sold like Hot Cakes! Make that Seven Million hot cakes since April!

Time for RIM to hit back… Golden rule, if you cannot innovate.. imitate!…. Out came the “BlackPad” , soon christened as the “Playbook”

This was surprising, as here is a tablet, made by someone whose forte is to create smart business phones, and it makes a ‘futuristic’ tablet..which could/would/should cater to the needs of the future business environment.. And yet they call it “PLAY” book!

As a second mover, they were open to feedback and sought to get things first time right.
– The iPad is bulky at 11inches, the PB is sleek at 7inches!
– The iPad doesn’t have flash support yet! CES videos shows the PB accessing flash easily!
– The iPad didn’t have multi-tasking, was upgraded to support statefull multi-tasking, the CES videos shows the iPad to be browsing Flash, run desktop applications, 1080p videos, Games, Mobile Desktop, 3D games and apps. All at the same time!
That’s like throwing the proverbial kitchen sink, the bath tub and may be a grand piano at the iPad!
– The PB has a BlackBerry bridge! In simple terms its connected to your (existing) BB via bluetooth and the PB is automatically synced with the BB! So in comes your contacts, calendar appointments, mails and EVEN BBM! Who knows one day BBM will support small multi person games!

The wifi version of the PB hits the market in a couple of months. I guess the 3G/4G equipped ‘upgraded’ device should be around soon too!

The iPad and the Android, however has an advantage of a HUGE application market. Though some of the applications are useless, but still they have a HUGE market place and an insane number of apps to flaunt about and its still growing.

From the legacy of BB, I would expect it to have fantastic power management capabilities as well. Infact the newly acquired QNX based OS, promises to deliver competitive battery life!

There it is: a perfect summary to counter the early mover advantage. Imitate, but be sure to get it first time right. Treat thy enemy, like one of your own, and learn from their mistakes!

(Nokia, throw that damn N8 and listen!)