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| Asus Windows 8 tablets prices leaked: $599-1299 |
| By Thom Holwerda on 2012-09-18 16:26:52 |
| "Asus has a trio of Windows 8 tablets on deck for the holidays, but the pricing is so high - $599 to $1299 for a hybrid - that it's going to be nearly impossible to compete in the marketplace. We were leaked Asus' holiday roadmap and the slide below tells the tale." If this is for real, Windows 8 is screwed in the tablet space. Nobody is going to buy a Windows tablet at prices higher than the iPad. |
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| Tablet pricing |
| By Earl C Pottinger on 2012-09-18 16:45:27 |
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Until a good tablet comes down to the pricing of a net-book I don't see the need to change over. No physical keyboard, no USB ports, no full size SD Card slots, no easy way to replace the drive, no ethernet port. All these I have on my net-books, with a battery life of 9+ hours on my Toshiba NB305 ($350) and 6+ on my Acer Aspire One ($215). So what do I gain with these pricey tablets? PS. And the fact that I can install Haiku-OS on the Intel based net-books makes it a done deal for me. |
 - Score: 6 |
| RE: Tablet pricing |
| By Lennie on 2012-09-18 17:04:59 |
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They most have some really good added value. Because the price of Android tablets is already pretty low and the trend seems to be to continue downwards: http://venturebeat.com/2012/09/1... |
| - Score: 2 |
| Nobody? |
| By byrc on 2012-09-18 17:50:45 |
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Thom, I personally would pay more for a Windows tablet than an iPad, simply because a Windows tablet would be far more compatible with the ecosystem I work in. Full office, skydrive, SharePoint etc. Most businesses exist inside the Microsoft ecosystem, and a tablet that, out of the box, will perfectly integrate with the existing setup would be killer. I am speaking of this such as Active Directory compatibility, device management, software distribution, update services etc. Furthermore, this is more than simply a tablet. Add a keyboard and mouse, and you have a full Windows desktop. I see this completely replacing laptops for many business folk. |
| - Score: 7 |
| Not necessarily... |
| By achmafooma on 2012-09-18 17:52:21 |
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I agree pricing needs to come down...but remember, these are actually a notebook AND a tablet in one device. I know you can approximate that with iPad or Android tablets, but both OS's are limited. For those of us who have a notebook and a tablet, and can't rely on iOS or Android for full-fledged computing (e.g., development), something like this would be a great option. That's $599 for something that's as powerful as a real notebook, but can also replace the iPad or Android tablet. I think the way to market this is as $599-$1299 for something that replaces two devices...say a $500 notebook and a $200 tablet. |
| - Score: 3 |
| Comment by hoak |
| By hoak on 2012-09-18 17:59:03 |
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That's well and fine, but as a commodity product this prices at least this Asus product out of the mass market -- and the competition is getting less expensive, seeing improvements to the UI; unlike the poxy hacked together mash-up that is NCI... Factor in $85 billion in quantitative easing a month with no limit in the U.S. market -- and inflationary costs are going to prevail on the future of what happens even for large deep pockets enterprise customers. This thing will be as Thom implies; dead before it even gets to market... Edited 2012-09-18 18:14 UTC |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE: Not necessarily... |
| By Alfman on 2012-09-18 18:05:22 |
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Having pushed for the laptop/tablet hybrid approach myself, I agree there is unmet demand for mobile products that just are not being targeted by apple or android devices. In theory these hybrids could meet that demand but I donno about the price though, it's much too steep in my opinion, particularly for ordinary consumers. It's evident that many people have more money to spend than I do though, so who knows. In any case I won't consider getting one even at the right price unless/until they are jailbroken and I know I can dual boot. Edited 2012-09-18 18:09 UTC |
| - Score: 5 |
| RE: Comment by hoak |
| By tylerdurden on 2012-09-18 18:18:13 |
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I assume Microsoft will be targeting the business market initially, where Windows is king. So there will be plenty of very large corporate orders for these devices. Perhaps Thom does not understand that there may be more markets for tablet devices other than personal media consumption. |
| - Score: 4 |
| Money and quality |
| By jessesmith on 2012-09-18 18:22:01 |
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Lots of people will buy this because it's priced so high. Most people assume cost equates quality and will want the high end tablet. Personally, rather than buy a docking station and a $600 tablet, I'd buy a low-end laptop and a new desktop box. |
| - Score: 3 |
| RE: Nobody? |
| By earksiinni on 2012-09-18 18:27:17 |
| Who on earth downvoted this past zero? I absolutely agree, and more: the target market is users who both want a tablet and are locked into Windows software. MS leverages Office, why shouldn't a Win 8 tablet leverage traditional MS monopoly? |
| - Score: 3 |
| Making a statement; but also premature conclusion, Thom |
| By earksiinni on 2012-09-18 18:37:36 |
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Asus is making a bold statement with this pricing, should it be genuine, that can yield a very subtle but significant insight about the current state of the PC market. By pricing it this high, they either 1) have a very specific niche in mind, or 2) are saying that for most people tablets + keyboards vs. proper laptops are essentially the same and unnoticeable. If the latter, that would be the ultimate statement in the whole "are tablets PC's" war: definitely, irrevocably "yes!" Of course, Asus can say whatever they want, but whether the market agrees is another matter. On the other hand, market failure does not necessarily imply that most people reject the product because they still find substantial differences between laptops and convertible tablets. WP7 is failing yet it's an amazing, eye-catching platform. All that said, I think the conclusion that Windows 8 will be screwed in tablet space is premature. First of all, isn't MS releasing its own tablet? The pricing may yet be more reasonable on that. Second, I'm pretty suspicious of ZDNet's evidence. For all we know, that road map could be for Asus vendors in a minor foreign market where products are priced in USD (or AUD or CDN; they're all almost the same now) but where costs are very high. It could also drastically change. But then again, I don't deal with speculation like this usually so perhaps this is solid evidence as far as tech rumors go. |
| - Score: 3 |
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