Microsoft Surface for Windows RT for $199?

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While most enthusiasts are waiting for the "Pro" version of the Surface, a $199 price point would probably go along way towards helping the hobbled RT version sell.

That MSRP, almost certainly lower than Microsoft's own cost, would line it up against the Nexus 7 and even the Kindle Fire. It would put Windows 8 on the map in a big way and give a lot of people a lot of reason to try out an operating system that is going to feel rather different than previous incarnations.
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Speculation and hearsay. Boy is it going to let a lot of steam out of the hype when Microsoft announces the cost at $299 or $399.
 
I call BS. Sure, I'd love for it to be true (I'd buy 2 of the things), but I doubt that it's true.

Of course, Microsoft would sell a shit ton and make a lot back through the Store. Kindle Fire & Nexus 7 lose money on the hardware but are making a lot more back on the consumption after the initial sale.
 
Even $299 is a hell of a deal. Even $399 is comparable with the rest of the market.

$199 id buy it just to play around with it.
 
MS would sell a gallion of them if the price is accurate.
I'm not really that interested in the RT version but for that price hells ya.
 
Now just release the pro at $499 and MS will officially takes over the tablet market.

:D
 
That's a great price if it's true.

And if it's true then I really wonder what the pro version price would be...

I'd hate to wait for the pro version to come out/be announced at a much higher price and then by that time lose the chance to buy the RT at $200
 
Cali3350 said:
Even $299 is a hell of a deal. Even $399 is comparable with the rest of the market.

$199 id buy it just to play around with it.
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At $199 it is a gamer changer without question. And I don't mean that in a totally positive way as it would obviously hurt OEMS and Microsoft would have a rough time making any money on it. It would probably even further hurt the sales of x86 PCs. But it would present Apple and Google with a hell of foe. Android would be all but done except on devices at Big Lots and I don't see how Apple could continue to sell $500 iPads at ever increasing numbers.

The thing is though that this price seems to be coming from several people that all went to the same conference at the end of July, an official Microsoft event. So whether this is true or not it seems that it's Microsoft that's at the root of it, and that's why at least with what I know now it's hard for me to totally discredit it as impossible as it seems it has to be.

But $299. that's still extremely competitive and still makes >$200 Android devices much less viable and puts pressure on Apple as well. But here's the thing. There are other people making RT devices and there's a possibility that someone is making a pretty cheap one. I do think that RT devices are going to be very competitive pricewise and not try to go head on with the iPad, I think they'll be cheaper. You'd have to think that Microsoft and OEMs are going to stupid or brave enough to try to go toe to toe with the iPad on price, not right now.
 
Isn't it a 10"? I doubt it. It'd be competing in the 7" market. It would force the Android devices cheaper though.
 
If that price ends up being true, I know I would buy one in a second. i am hugely skeptical though.
 
As far as I remember, Acer's CEO only said something like "If the Surface cost $199, it would kill all the OEMs, if it costs $599-699, then we have fair competition." The $199 figure was just an example, not the price of the Surface. This guy did not read or understand Acer's quote.
 
Chimel said:
As far as I remember, Acer's CEO only said something like "If the Surface cost $199, it would kill all the OEMs, if it costs $599-699, then we have fair competition." The $199 figure was just an example, not the price of the Surface. This guy did not read or understand Acer's quote.
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No, that's not where this story came from. It was from a couple anonymous people that attended a Microsoft conference last month that said that $199 is what they heard directly from Microsoft.
 
$199 selling price is plausible. The Bill of Materials costs plus Assembly costs, without the LCD, probably comes to less than $100.
 
$199 is precisely what Microsoft should charge if they want to win over OEMs and get them off the Android tablet train for good.

Wait, that isn't right.
 
Well they DO need to be able to compete with the Nexus 7. Perhaps they think it's a waste of time and effort trying to compete with iPads, but Surface might have a chance against Nexus 7.
 
Azhar said:
Well they DO need to be able to compete with the Nexus 7. Perhaps they think it's a waste of time and effort trying to compete with iPads, but Surface might have a chance against Nexus 7.
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If there are a number of quality $200 to $300 Windows RT devices I think they can combined easily sell in iPad like numbers.
 
They need to get an eco system somewhere to get their app store flowing. Right now its not exactly churning/burning/attracting devs. They need to get into a market where they can attract what Android/Apple has currently, this is probably their best way.
 
At $199 i would buy two if it was $299 i would still buy one and give my tf101 to my gf.. Please stop these insane tablet prices!
 
Trimlock said:
They need to get an eco system somewhere to get their app store flowing. Right now its not exactly churning/burning/attracting devs. They need to get into a market where they can attract what Android/Apple has currently, this is probably their best way.
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Developers aren't going to be a problem, when you put all Windows 8 devices together it's going to easily match the number iPads and Android tablets combined, even if Windows 8 is a Vista like flop.
 
Azhar said:
Well they DO need to be able to compete with the Nexus 7.
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I think what the Surface is about is showing what OEMs can do with Windows tablets, not about competing with Google. Besides, the Surface is a 10" tablet with a magnesium body and starts at 32GB. The Nexus is a 7" tablet with a cheap plastic body that starts at 8GB. They aren't really in the same ballpark.
 
heatlesssun said:
Developers aren't going to be a problem, when you put all Windows 8 devices together it's going to easily match the number iPads and Android tablets combined, even if Windows 8 is a Vista like flop.
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Devs aren't going to flock to support an OS where they don't have a one-stop, one-click way to download your product, or a free/near free way to advertise your product that the app market or android market has.
 
Trimlock said:
Devs aren't going to flock to support an OS where they don't have a one-stop, one-click way to download your product, or a free/near free way to advertise your product that the app market or android market has.
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Huh? The Windows Store is a one-stop one-click market.
 
This sounds like a really bad idea, piss off all the OEMs while at the same time setting a very low expectation for future pricing of tablets.
 
wonderfield said:
I think what the Surface is about is showing what OEMs can do with Windows tablets, not about competing with Google. Besides, the Surface is a 10" tablet with a magnesium body and starts at 32GB. The Nexus is a 7" tablet with a cheap plastic body that starts at 8GB. They aren't really in the same ballpark.
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I don't think that your average consumer market care about the Nexus 7 being plastic or having 8gb. Only that it's $199, else Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet wouldn't have done so well with their glaring lack of features. Fewer people are buying Samsung Galaxy and ASUS Transformer tablets despite their superior parts and features because it cost more than what people are willing to pay for a tablet.

iPads are exceptions to the rule. Apple knows what everyone wants, so they sell despite high prices. Microsoft has yet to test that water, so they need to remain competitive with Android tablets for the time being.
 
heatlesssun said:
If there are a number of quality $200 to $300 Windows RT devices I think they can combined easily sell in iPad like numbers.
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Sorry, but as much as I'd like to see Microsoft get ahead, that's a fantasy.
 
$199 for a 10" tablet is far fetched, but $299 is more plausible and more reasonable too.

Specs haven't been released, but what is known is the fact that the RT version will have a rather sub par 1366x768 (but still useable) and that might actually help it range between $299-$399.

That's a great price for a tablet that comes stocked with a good breadth of office apps.
 
Azhar said:
Sorry, but as much as I'd like to see Microsoft get ahead, that's a fantasy.
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It may not happen but I think we would need to see the prices, hardware, and apps first before we call it a fantasy. There are a number of things pretty unique to RT, one being that those apps will run as is on Windows 8 laptops and desktops and RT can leverage existing Windows tools and infrastructure that businesses have large investments in easier than iOS or Android.
 
I hope that the Pro version will have a reasonable price tag on it...Hopefully this rumor on the $199 will have a correlation with a lower price on the Pro version, $699/799 perhaps...I know I am reaching, but man that would be tits!
 
I'm not holding my breath... but if they do pull off a $199 release, I'll probably end up getting one :D
 
This $199 price does not make any sense, not for Microsoft and certainly not for the OEMs. I think these rumors were started by Microsoft competitors. These rumors set a low price expectation of the Surface RT. When the real Surface RT price comes out much higher than this, people will think it is too expensive because they have this $199 number anchored in their brains.
 
bbqrooster said:
This $199 price does not make any sense, not for Microsoft and certainly not for the OEMs. I think these rumors were started by Microsoft competitors. These rumors set a low price expectation of the Surface RT. When the real Surface RT price comes out much higher than this, people will think it is too expensive because they have this $199 number anchored in their brains.
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It depends on how serious MS is about entering the hardware space. If they are approaching this strictly as an example of capabilities that they then intend to allow the OEMs to push and own then the 199 is unreasonable. If they are convinced that Android already has a lock on the OEMs in the tablet space for ARM and they wish to establish a hardware infrastructure of their own in ARM, then this number would make perfect sense.

A low price on the x86 version of the tablet would be suicidal for them though (and I wouldn't expect that price to even be in the range of the iPad). I would expect the price of that to more closely align to the Ultrabook pricing to protect the OEMs who are very well established as users in the x86 space and prevent an exodus to Chrome or Linux in that space due to pricing pressures.
 
I like to think that when prices like these are 'leaked' or rumoured, that the company in question does it on purpose to gauge the reaction from the public. I think that's a great way to do market research, to be honest.
 
I snagged a Nexus 7 just because of it's cheap price (and I didn't have an Android anything, wanted to dork with something.) I'm sure many people will bite on a cheap Surface for the same reason. I had no plans to ever get the low end Surface until now if that price is close to the rumor.
 
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