Rumour: Price of Windows RT / Surface tablets could undercut price of iPad

by Matthew Diener 17/8/2012

While Microsoft has yet to officially reveal the pricing for its upcoming Surface, we may have an idea of what to expect from other Windows 8 and RT tablets.

A Lenovo executive, David Schmoock, spoke candidly during an interview this week and revealed that his company's Windows RT tablets would be priced $200 - $300 less than tablets running the more robust Windows 8 software.

Schmoock then estimated that a Windows 8 tablet would cost $600 - $700, thereby implying that a Lenovo tablet running Windows RT would cost around $300.

Cheap slate

It is worth noting that Schmoock is speaking only for Lenovo, although it is likely that Microsoft's Surface will follow a similar pricing strategy.

If the various Windows RT tablets do debut at $300, as indicated, they could provide ample competition for the iPad by offering consumers a tablet with a slightly larger screen for about $200 less than the cheapest model of Apple's touchscreen tablet line.

It will be interesting to see if Microsoft follows Lenovo's lead when it comes to Windows RT / Windows 8 tablet pricing. If it does, the tablet market may be in for something of a shake-up soon.

Bloomberg