The tablet that was once thought to be a business man's alternative to the iPad may be in serious trouble. Since its release, the Blackberry Playbook has had (at best) mixed reviews and mixed levels of popularity. The Playbook's maker, RIM, has had troubles of its own this last year and if recent developments can be believed, the company still seems to be listing badly. RIM saw the lack of interest in its tablets since its release as mainly being about the cost, and because of this allowed the retailers to chop the Playbook’s price by hundreds of dollars.

It now appears that even price slashing may not have been good enough, as numerous reports are flooding the Internet about orders for the Playbook being canceled and unopened units being removed from store shelves. Most retailers do not seem to be very interested in carrying new Playbooks, with Best Buy (News - Alert) being one that will only offer refurbished models for sale at the moment.

When Best Buy did knock of the price of the Playbook by almost $300, there was definite interest as many customers ordered through the retailer's website. According to many customers who tried to take advantage of the deal, the store charged their credit cards one day, but then a few days later canceled the order and refunded the charges. Most customers say there has been no real explanation for the canceled orders or refunds.

A quick search of the Internet will show you that the 32 and 64 GB models are still being offered at places like Staples (News - Alert) and OfficeMax, but that the 16 GB versions, the ones that were knocked down in price from $500 to $200 don't seem to appear anywhere other than RIM's own site. Because neither Best Buy nor RIM have commented on the disappearance of the discounted 16 GB Playbook, we can only speculate on what is going on.

One theory is that RIM only made a certain number of discounted Playbooks available and they sold quicker than expected. If that is the case, then canceling orders with nary a whisper isn't going to endear the company to potential customers.