SAN FRANCISCO - SEPTEMBER 27: A BlackBerry DevCon attendee takes a photograph of the new BlackBerry PlayBook during the Blackberry DevCon 2010 on September 27, 2010 in San Francisco, California. RIM President and Co-Chief Executive Officer Mike Lazaridis announced the new BlackBerry PlayBook, a touchscreen tablet, during his keynote address. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)Getty Images
Research In Motion expects its PlayBook tablet and new BlackBerry smartphones to power growth in 2011 as it continues to compete against rival Apple and Android products for market dominance.
RIM will launch the PlayBook tablet to compete against the iPad and other computer tablets, with analysts watching to see how the BlackBerry maker fares in the competitive North American market.
"I think we are laying in the pieces here to sustain really exciting growth for a long, long, long time," co-CEO Jim Balsillie told a conference call Thursday after the company reported strong quarterly results that exceeded expectations.
"I feel great about where we are sitting for 2011 with the carriers and in North America," Balsillie told analysts.
Balsillie said the PlayBook tablet, a small computer with a touchscreen that can run software applications for business and personal use and also stream movies and TV shows, will have strong corporate appeal.
"We're committed to ensuring the BlackBerry PlayBook is enterprise-ready for launch," he said, adding that it will have the same level of security as a BlackBerry smartphone.
The PlayBook will have a new operating system based on technology from RIM's recent acquisition of QNX, a maker of a real-time operating systems used in vehicle navigation systems. That technology is also expected to work its way into new BlackBerry smartphones being introduced next year.
"The PlayBook is expected to begin shipping in the United States in the first quarter of 2011," Balsillie said, noting the tablet will have WiFi only and be sold at retailers.
He noted that RIM has made acquisitions this year such as QNX and interface designer The Astonishing Tribe to help work on new products.
"This is not a time to be penny-wise and pound foolish when you're really grabbing position in this rapidly expanding space because it's not just competition between players in the space - it's expanding to do things you normally didn't do in mobility."
But since much of the company's growth has come from international sales in recent quarters, analysts have wondered if RIM's best days are behind it.
Apple recently surpassed RIM to become the world's fourth-largest mobile phone vendor reflecting the release of the latest version of the company's iPhone, tech trends firm IDC has reported.
Apple's market share globally increased to just over four per cent, up from 2.5 per cent in the same quarter last year, IDC said. RIM's market share was 3.6 per cent, up from 2.9 per cent.