RIM kicks off three-for-two PlayBook deal

Research in Motion has kicked off a new discount program offering US enterprise customers three PlayBook tablets for the price of two. 

The offer will be available until 31 December 2011 for purchase through any authorised reseller, and additional sweeteners include a free leather sleeve, charging pod and a 1.8 metre HDMI cable. 

The deal has not been extended to Australian or British customers.

RIM’s offer came shortly after it confirmed it would delay its PlayBook OS 2.0 update by four months, holding back integration of native email and BlackBerry Messenger that it hoped to deliver this month.

RIM shares fell 6 percent on news of the delay, the Financial Times reported. 

The company has reported shipments of around 750,000 PlayBook devices since launch, but shipments fell well short of expectations last quarter, triggering a raft of discounts aimed at clearing out inventory.  

Consumer discounts in the US and Canada commenced in September, slashing prices by almost a half at major retailers.