BlackBerry CEO Jim Balsillie said that the company's PlayBook tablet will be priced under $500, shares of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) soared on the Toronto Stock Exchange and Wall Street.

The price announcement sent RIM stock up 5.68 per cent on the TSX to close at $58.61 and 7.53 per cent up on Wall Street to close at $59.14.

Balsillie said in Seoul - where he is attending the G20 CEO summi, that the PlayBook tablet will be priced competitively below $500 to challenge Apple's iPad which has sold millions of copies since its launch in April.

BlackBerry's PlayBook tablet will stand apart from Apple's iPad for not only its size - it has a seven-inch display as against iPad's 9.7 inches, but also its Adobe Flash for running video and graphic works. Apple has shunned Flash.

Even though RIM has posted 20 per cent growth in the last quarter and is close to reaching 60 million BlackBerry subscribers worldwide, the outlook for the Canadian iconic company has been clouded as Apple has overtaken it in smart phone sales worldwide.

During the last quarter, Apple sold 14.1 million smart phones while RIM sold just 12.4 million BlackBerry smart phones.