Gasp! Tablets could be on the way out, says Blackberry boss
There were gasps all round yesterday when BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins suggested that tablet computers could be on the way out.
Thorsten Heins: KO for tablets?
“In five years I don’t think there’ll be a reason to have a tablet anymore,” Heins said in an interview at the Milken Institute conference in Los Angeles.
“Maybe a big screen in your workspace, but not a tablet as such. Tablets themselves are not a good business model.”
Blackberry itself of course has not had a good experience with tablets. The 2011 PlayBook was panned for not having built-in e-mail, "delivering the tablet a near-fatal blow," said Bloomberg. The Canadian firm took a $485 million charge last year to write down unsold inventory after shipping as few as 150,000 PlayBooks in the third quarter of 2012.
But amid the general derision for Heins - and soaring tablet sales - website ZDNet suggested they he could be right.
"The reaction to BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins' comments about the future of tablets is unanimous: Most folks think Heins is way off. Perhaps it's worth pondering whether he's right to some degree.
"Heins is basically saying that BlackBerry can't make money on tablets. In fact, it's unclear anyone beyond Apple can make money on tablets.
"The leap Heins is taking is that tablets are a transition device and may suffer the same fate as netbooks in five years."
Tablets are flying off the shelves and poaching PC sales, said ZDNet. Tablets must be the future right?
" Perhaps the smartphone is the real computing hub aided with virtual keyboards, docking stations and other items. Perhaps Google Glass steals some tablet thunder.
"The reality is that we're lugging around more devices not less. Backpacks are typically filled with laptops, tablets and smartphones. There's an opportunity to collapse those categories."
In other words, laugh off Heins today, said ZDNet. "His tablet comments are obviously viewed through BlackBerry's PlayBook scarred lens. But it's worth pondering whether he has a point and in what conditions."
In a separate interview with Bloomberg Television , Heins said he was optimistic about prospects for BlackBerry’s new Q10 phone, with a physical keyboard after its weekend UK launch.
“We have very, very good first signs already after the launch in the U.K.,” Heins said. “We have quite some expectations. We expect several tens of million of units.”
Department store Selfridges and outlets of Carphone Warehouse Group sold out of the Q10 quickly. The shares rose 4.4 percent to $16.29 at the close in New York.