WINDOWS RT TABLETS BY MICROSOFT:A REAL MARKET BREAKER

No matter how much we’d like it to happen, Microsoft probably isn’t going to launch Surface starting a mere $199, as has been rumored this week. Not only would such an aggressive pricing strategy further piss off Microsoft’s hardware partners, it would also require selling the device at a significant loss. So, how much will Surface cost? Nobody knows for sure

But in an interview with Bloomberg, David Schmoock head of Lenovo’s North America operations said devices based on ARM-powered Windows RT software will cost anywhere between $200 and $300 less than similar products utilizing Windows 8 software. This of course means that a $199 tablet could happen if Microsoft were to price their Windows 8 slate in line with the iPad starting at $499.

Of course, he goes on to note that Windows 8 tablets will cost $600 to $700 which, at that price, would put RT tablets starting at around $300. It’s worth pointing out that in both scenarios, he didn’t specifically mention tablets manufactured by Microsoft but instead, tablets running each version of Microsoft’s software.

Intel spokesperson Kari Aakre told the publication in a phone interview that they always set aggressive targets and they had no plans to back off of their goals, referring of course to predictions from CEO Paul Otellini that Ultrabooks could account for up to 40 percent of consumer laptops by the end of 2012.

If you haven’t been following, Windows RT tablets will feature ARM-based hardware inside, while higher end Windows 8 tablets support x86 processor from Intel and AMD.

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