RIM's prolonged BlackBerry PlayBook discounting came after it was "blindsided" by the Amazon Kindle Fire, according to a research note from Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu. Citing "checks" in the supply chain, he understood RIM hadn't expected Amazon's loss-leading $199 price and had decided to take even more of a loss to follow suit. RIM was estimated to be losing $50 to $75 on every PlayBook it shipped.
