Research In Motion expects to build 2.5 million BlackPad tablets for the fourth quarter, said a financial analyst.
The Wall Street Journal reported Sept. 22 that RIM will unveil the BlackPad at its 2010 BlackBerry Developer Conference, which runs from Sept. 27 through Sept. 30 in San Francisco.
While RIM did not comment on the report or the tablet number for eWEEK, the Journal said the 7-inch-screen BlackPad, which will sport two cameras, including one for video conferencing, will feature a new platform built by QNX Software Systems.
RIM, which acquired QNX from Harman in April, expects to launch this device in the fourth quarter this year to compete with Apple’s iPad and tablets based on Google’s Android operating system, such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab and Archos line of Android machines. Apple shipped 3.27 million iPads in the third quarter.
Susquehanna Research analyst Jeffrey Fidacaro, who learned from his sources RIM is building 2.5 million BlackPads, said he has reached out to some ISV contacts to see if RIM built the machine on QNX.
Some industry watchers expressed surprise that the tablet isn’t based on the new BlackBerry 6 operating system, which powers the BlackBerry Torch.
Read more here…
the new blackpad will have one or two built-in cameras