RIM sold 50,000 BlackBerry PlayBooks yesterday and will sell 500,000 more this quarter

Expectations were low. But they were nonetheless exceeded.

Research in Motion's BlackBerry PlayBook tablet launched across North America to minimal fanfare, but that was partly due to the pre-order option that eliminated the need for inconvenient lineups.

Quoth the Financial Post:

Checks of 70 retail stores found 11% of the locations stocking the device were sold out, according to Mike Abramsky, analyst at RBC Capital Markets. He estimates day one sales of 50,000, including pre-orders, and that RIM is on track to ship 500,000 PlayBooks in the first quarter of fiscal 2012.

“The launch appears to have been stronger than the launch of Motorola’s Xoom (Android) Tablet, or the Samsung Galaxy Tab, although it’s too early to judge sustainability,” Mr. Abramsky said in a note to clients.

The Royal Bank of Canada is maintaining its outlook that the Waterloo-based tech titan's shares will once again reach $90, which would generate a return of roughly 70 percent for those buying now.