Retailers began selling the Blackberry Playbook Tablet

Big-box retailer Staples will begin a sale on Friday for RIM's PlayBook tablet in the BlackBerry maker's home country of Canada. The 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models of the device will sell for $199, $299 and $399, respectively. The Verge reports that Staples in America will hold a similar sale for the PlayBook. RIM shipped just 200,000 PlayBook tablets last quarter, disappointing analysts who had expected sales in the range of 400,000 to 600,000. In September, Best Buy attempted to stoke sales of the device by offering $150 off the 64GB version and $50 off the 16GB and 32GB models.

Tablet makers have found themselves squeezed by downward price pressure from low-end competition and an overwhelming preference for Apple's iPad from consumers. Hewlett Packard has been the most offensive in the tablet price war. After sales of its TouchPad tablet got off to a sluggish start, the company tested out a $100 price cut. Amazon added fuel to the fire when it unveiled its own tablet at the low price of $199. The online retailer has adopted a content-focused approach that allows it to sell its tablet at a loss in hopes of making money back from Amazon Prime subscriptions and sales of digital media.

The first part of Amazon's business model appears to be working, as sales of the Fire have exceeded expectations. The sale lasts from November 16th to the 22nd in Quebec, and the 18th to the 24th in the rest of Canada. Obviously, though, you'll have to be quick -- we're sure this fire sale will have stocks running pretty low.

In the US, Staples will be selling the 16GB version for $199 on Black Friday, while a tipster has informed us that most Canadian retailers will be dropping the price of PlayBooks: $199 for the 16GB model, $299 for 32GB, and $399 for 64GB. This discount makes the BlackBerry tablet price competitive with new devices like the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet, and there's supposed to be a software update on the horizon that adds in some of the missing features.