As part of the company's Q1 FY12 results, RIM has revealed that first quarter shipments for BlackBerry PlayBook across North America came in at approximately 500,000 units.

The firm's first tablet launched across the US and Canada on April 19, with day one sales having previously been pegged at around the 50,000 mark by RBC Capital Markets.

Official figures now reveal that RIM has, on average, been shipping around 8,600 units to retail a day.

On target

RIM's estimate brings PlayBook exactly in line with the expectations of most analysts.

Back in mid-May, RBC Capital Markets Mike Abramsky suggested a total of 250,000 units had been sold in the device's first month on sale.

Abramsky went on the project first quarter sales of half a million, meaning RIM is shipping (if not selling) at a pace in line with such projections.

RBC Capital Markets has previously predicted a total of 3 million units will be sold by the end of 2011, though PlayBook looks like it will face a rougher ride in the UK, where operator O2 has already dropped support for the tablet.

[source: RIM (PDF)]