News - Microsoft Surface for $199, are they crazy?

[Malphas]

If the OEMs are already throwing their toys out of the pram just because Microsoft dared to release a hardware product, then really there's no reason for Microsoft to not just go all in to try and steal some of Apple's thunder and get some much needed presence in the tablet market, at least for the short term.

[sam3]

There are so many great free programs on Windows I just can't see myself using the app store to purchase anything (on surface pro). Not to mention there are already lots of popular alternate stores on windows (Steam etc).

[kasavien]

Wouldn't it make sense for them to potentially sell the RT at a loss / break even, because people will have to download apps for it through the appstore, which microsoft take a cut from? Whereas for the pro version they make money from the license and margin on the hardware if they sell it themselves, or just on the license from the oems.

EDIT: Thinking about googles situation. I don't really understand why they're selling the nexus at cost, other than that they are trying to gain market share and improve the image of an OS which on some other devices is no where near as slick as iOS. But then again, google presumably take a cut from all the advertising on free apps.

[brasco]

But would it? It's the apps that make a tablet successful - and Microsoft are starting new, again..there is no way this could be a game changer, even at that price.

You think it wouldn't shake up the marketplace at $199? I'm sure it would, google did the same with the Nexus 7 and it's sold like crazy.

It didn't work for RIM - their playbook has excellent specifications and is a joy to use - but the lack of widespread App support has killed it, despite it being available for nearly £100 now.

This was surely due to the infancy of the sector, it may as well have been the Ipad sector for the first 2 years.

I would expect the cut down/basic RT unit to sell for $300-400, and the much improved, useful Pro unit's to sell for around the $800-$1000 range. Just a shame we have to wait 3 months longer to get our hands on the Pro units..those are the ones that are genuinely exciting.

Yeah, I'm already in for the Pro (or one of the OEMs, whichever is best), if the RT came out at sub 200 quid I'd get one also, then maybe flog it when I get the Pro.

To those "concerned" about the specifications - remember that they are 100% irrelevant at this point as you have nothing to compare it to.

I wasn't until someone claimed they were poor! Still, I've read up and you can still see roughly how it will fit in with passed and present tabs, just based on what the hardware is capable of in current devices. I'm just interested to see how it turns out.

[Tpyo]

With the previous price speculation I had written off the surface (given that $1 usually = £1 due to the *bendoverandtakeit* pricing exchange rates, £399 for the ARM/RT version seemed pointless). As a non-apple fanboi (I never got over my early traumatic experience of missing the right click and 'deleting' disks to eject them), even I'd go for the iPad by preference at that price point. At £299 or below, it becomes an interesting possibility. The 'full fat' version I'd expect to be more than the iPad anyway, and while I might covet it, I'm unlikely to shell out for something like that until my (ultraportable) laptop needs replacing.

I currently have my new-build running the pre-release of Win8, and I don't hate it (some niggles compared to Win7 but it does the job). Assuming they actually do a deal for preorders on Win8 (and not just for the upgrades), I'd probably go with it. At full price, I'd stick to Win7 thanks.

Easy syncing/across/between with desktop (current workhorse system is win/ubuntu dual boot but the new build will become the main one in Oct) and windows phone would be a nice plus, but if the tablet isn't up to scratch, I'd probably go for the nexus 7 and a samsung phone. Hence from my point of view, I cansee a (relatively) cheap initial offering a good idea for microsoft to get the snowball effect going. Still, £199 seems awfully cheap to be true.

Basically, I'd like to give Win8 every chance, but pricing for the desktop software and tablet will end up being the deciding factor. If one field drops the ball, it'd be nudging me closer to a full linux/android setup for phone, 'puter and tablet.

[crossy]

I cansee a (relatively) cheap initial offering a good idea for microsoft to get the snowball effect going. Still, £199 seems awfully cheap to be true.

Actually that's a good point - Microsoft launching their tablet at a "zero profit" price to get a foothold, (and some valuable free advertising as the web goes wild). But there's the problem of alienating the partners shipping their kit at a much higher price.

An answer to this concern surely would be for these "foothold" tablets to be strictly limited in numbers. Basically an introductory offer and "when they're gone, they're gone". So you stock enough to sell for a month, and then after those have gone, the "proper" devices take over.

Meanwhile, you can then claim to developers that your new app store has a guaranteed x thousand punters, and sit back and get your 30% from the app store sales from those punters. And most people will buy a lot of apps when they first get a new device - at least according to the survey's I've seen the results of.

[pp05]

199 seems to be sweet spot. I cannot see it happening personally for MS.

ACER and the other OEM should be thinking WinRT at 7" for 199.

[TheAnimus]

Given that amazon n google can't make anything better than their 7 inches for the price point, this surely won't be that cheap.... Unless they do a subscription deal like they did with the Xbox in the US.

[Andrew McP]

Given that the RT only runs apps formerly-known-as-Metro, $199 is about what I'd want to pay for it. And I guess MS may be prepared to take a big financial risk, having seen how they've struggled with phone adoption.

However if you're going to buy into a new, locked down platform the iPad makes more sense (I'm no Apple fan but it is a lovely bit of kit), and Android can offer a lot of flexibility for the tweaker.

Of course if they can sell me a 'full fat' MS tablet for iPad money then I'll bite their hand off. But I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for that price point to be reached. :-)

[wasabi]

At that price I'd be tempted just for the keyboard as I could do iwth a new netbook. However I've read that they lock out other browsers and force you to use IE. No Chrome or Firefox kills it for me. Which is a shame.

[crossy]

At that price I'd be tempted just for the keyboard as I could do iwth a new netbook. However I've read that they lock out other browsers and force you to use IE. No Chrome or Firefox kills it for me. Which is a shame.

I'm not sure that this'd be the case - because if it was then surely they're walking themselves right into a nice indefensible anti-trust lawsuit. Maybe not in the US, but I'm very sure that the EU would slap 'em down for it (and rightly so in my book).

Heck even Apple allow Chrome and Firefox (and others) on iPad.

[cheesemp]

199 seems to be sweet spot. I cannot see it happening personally for MS.

ACER and the other OEM should be thinking WinRT at 7" for 199.

How - Microsoft are supposed to charge $80 a license to the OEMs according to a story on here the other week. I think OEM's will be lucky to hit $300 with a license at that price!

[kingpotnoodle]

I want some of whatever people who believe this rumour are smoking.

[bobharvey]

I would have expected Microsoft to price the surface on par, or slightly undercutting (if possible) the iPad,

That worked SO WELL for HP, after all.