The company's existing stock of PlayBooks may have run out, and the company may be getting ready to launch a new version of the tablet, said Bob O'Donnell, program vice president for clients and displays at IDC.

RIM has said nothing recently about a new PlayBook, but if one were to come, it could be running the upcoming BlackBerry 10 operating system, O'Donnell said. RIM is aggressively pushing the new OS, which will be on new BlackBerry smartphones later this year.

"There have been rumblings of RIM doing a second-generation [PlayBook] product," O'Donnell said. "I don't think they are going to quit the market yet."

RIM said in August it would refresh the PlayBook lineup with a 4G LTE model that would be initially available and in other countries at a later date. The PlayBook LTE model is already available through Canadian carriers, and is listed on RIM's as "coming soon" to the U.S. However, the model is not available through retail stores.

In early October RIM pushed out an update to the BlackBerry PlayBook OS, version 2.1, for the LTE and existing Wi-Fi only versions of the tablet. The update includes features such as the ability to compose SMS messages when connected to a BlackBerry smartphone over Bluetooth. There is also improved support and compatibility for Android apps.