Report: RIM axes PlayBook sales target

Research In Motion has slashed its internal sales target for its BlackBerry tablet due to weak demand, DigiTimes reported yesterday, citing information from Taiwanese supply chain sources.

For the second quarter, RIM now expects to sell 800,000 to 900,000 tablets, down from its original goal of 2.4 million units, according to DigiTimes.

The PlayBook kicked off launch day in mid-April with strong sales of 40,000 to 50,000 units. Since then, demand for the tablet has softened, said the sources.

Though RIM may not reach its original sales target, the PlayBook has still sold well enough to place it among the top non-iPad devices, according to DigiTimes. Further, since the PlayBook is currently available as a Wi-Fi only device, DigiTimes said that market watchers are hopeful the tablet will generate more sales once its 3G, LTE, and WiMax versions reach consumers after the third quarter.

in response to CNET's request for comment, a RIM representative said it's company policy to decline to comment on rumors and speculation.

Facing competition from the iPad, other non-Apple tablet makers have also been forced to scale back on their plans.

Acer last week revealed that it had misjudged how many Iconia Tab tablets it would sell this year and trimmed its sales forecast for the device by 60 percent.

J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz recently said that the "weak showing" of products such as the Motorola Xoom, the PlayBook, and Samsung's Galaxy Tab have prompted tablet makers to slash their build plans by around 10 percent this year.

Among global tablet makers, only Apple, HTC, and Lenovo have apparently kept their build plans the same since March. Other companies, such as Acer, Dell, Motorola, RIM, Toshiba, and Samsung have cut their build plans by double digit percentages, according to Moskowitz.

Updated at 8:30 a.m. PT with response from RIM.