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Steve Ballmer Indirectly Confirms Price Range of Surface: $300-$800, Will Not Be $200

dgstorm

Editor in Chief
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For the last several months since the announcement of the Microsoft Surface tablet, their has been rampant speculation that the RT version could sell for as little as $199.99. Pricing and a time-frame for availability were the only things that Microsoft specifically didn't share during their official announcement, and they have not given any real hint at the pricing, until now. Here's a quote with some details,

Recently however, Steve Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft, sat down for an interview with The Seattle Times. They asked him: “With the Surface, are you planning to compete with the iPad on price or on features?” Here’s his response, in full:

“We haven’t announced pricing. I think we have a very competitive product from the features perspective. …

I think most people would tell you that the iPad is not a superexpensive device. … (When) people offer cheaper, they do less. They look less good, they’re chintzier, they’re cheaper.

If you say to somebody, would you use one of the 7-inch tablets, would somebody ever use a Kindle (Kindle Fire, $199) to do their homework? The answer is no; you never would. It’s just not a good enough product. It doesn’t mean you might not read a book on it….

If you look at the bulk of the PC market, it would run between, say, probably $300 to about $700 or $800. That’s the sweet spot.”

It's easy to infer from this that Microsoft has no intention of selling the Surface at the $200 dollar price point. In fact, more than likely, we will see the tablet in the same price-range as the iPad, or perhaps $100 bucks cheaper. The most interesting thing that you can take from his statements comes when you read between the lines. Apparently, Microsoft sees Tablets as the new PC, and are moving full speed ahead toward that potential evolution of technology. Interesting...

Source: Androidauthority
 
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