In a Friday statement, Sprint announced its decision to discontinue the sale of the 4G version of the Research In Motion (RIM)’s BlackBerry PlayBook tablet on its Wi-Max network.

Saying that it was through a mutual decision with RIM that the plug was being pulled on the sales of BlackBerry 4G PlayBook Tablet, a Sprint representative told Wired. com: “We apologize for any inconvenience but the BlackBerry 4G PlayBook Tablet that was announced in January for summer availability will no longer be coming to the Sprint network.”

The announcement by Sprint implies that since AT&T and Verizon do not presently support the PlayBook on their networks, Sprint’s withdrawal of support for WiMax PlayBook will RIM with the option of selling only a Wi-Fi version of the tablet, which needs to be paired with a Blackberry handset so as to allow the users the access a carrier’s 3G network.

RIM – which had promised to launch 3G and 4G versions of the PlayBook while announcing it – has apparently tried to color Sprint’s announcement differently, by saying that it has “decided to prioritize and focus its 4G development resources on LTE,” the 4G technology that comparatively has a much wider adoption than WiMax.

Further adding that the testing of BlackBerry 4G PlayBook models is already underway, RIM said that it intends entering labs for network certifications in the US and other global markets “this fall.”