When all of the new Windows 8 tablets started showing up on the market late last year, the prices seemed a little steep. Why would you pay $900 for a Windows 8 tablet with 64Gb SSD, 2Gb of RAM and an Atom processor? That sounds like Netbook specs to me. According to Anand Shimpi, the OEMs knew these prices were too high from the beginning.
Shimpi tweeted a nice deal where you can get the Acer W510-1666 Tablet for only $479 from NewEgg though it’s now back up to $529 but that’s still less than the $599 usual price. You can now find a similar model for $399 at the Microsoft Store. The ASUS VivoTab™ Smart is down to $429 now even though it was $479 last week and originally $499. The Acer Iconia Tab W510-1422 with detachable keyboard is down to $649 from $749. The Samsung ATIV Smart PC 500T Tablet was on sale for $499 last week, but now that particular model with AT&T LTE and keyboard is up to $899.
These days it feels kind of like Windows 8 tablet prices are fluctuating as much as airline ticket prices. Maybe you’ll see a decent deal one day or you’ll get price-gouged the next. It’s a strange balance of attempting to gain back some of the cost of research/development for these new devices, while also trying to generate sales.
Intel has said that the next generation of Windows tablets could start in the $200 range. Those will probably be of the smaller 7″ type who’s screen size will make using desktop style programs much more difficult on a touch screen, though I think it could still work well with a docked keyboard/pointer device.
Those newer/smaller/cheaper Windows tablets likely won’t be around until the end of 2013 at the earliest which bets the question; when will the current Windows 8 tablets find the right pricing?
Have you bought a Windows 8 tablet during one of their “good deal” sale times? Or are you waiting for the right price?
Originally published on Pocketnow on April 24, 2013. More from the Pocketnow archive.