Surface RT to cost $199?

[the better twin]

Engadgets "source" says so.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/14/microsoft-surface-199/

Seems too good to be true surely?

Would you get one at that price?

[.Neo]

In other news: Microsoft Surface Touch Cover and Type Cover to cost ?299 and ?399 respectively?

[giantpotato]

I was considering getting a Pro model, but if the $199 price is true, the RT model is looking very tempting now.

[ahhell]

I wasn't that interested in an RT version but holy crap if that's the price!!!!

:woot:

[CG-88]

If it is released at that price I will be buying one without a shadow of a doubt!!!!

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

The price for the Surface Pro would interest me more. ?500 maybe?

[.Neo]

PS I'd immediately get a Surface if it only costs around ?200, especially if it comes with a free copy of Office 2013.

[HSoft]

Given how late to the market microsoft is, $200 would be the necessary price point (especially now with the nexus 7 and other decent tablets coming in at that price point) for Microsoft to make any headway in the market.

The pro IMO will also have to come in under the price of an equivalent iPad.

[CG-88]

I would say 450 for pro maybe?

[Roger H. Veteran]

For that price i'd definitely get one no questions asked, along with an Android Tablet :)

I definitely like "Metro" UI but only on a Tablet form. So yeah, that would be sweet. I'd still wanna get a Android Tablet for regular playing around though :)

[Klownicle]

I'm getting the pro version myself. But if its 199$ ill buy it when it comes out JUST TO HAVE IT. Then sell when pro is available. Thats insane. Microsoft would kill whatever 199$ market there is today if this were the case.

[majortom1981]

There is no way it would be that price. How would other hardware manufacturers be able to compete with that ?

[Astra.Xtreme]

Even at $200 I probably wouldn't get one. Basically for the same reason I won't buy a Nexus 7. Yeah it's a neat novelty and the price is okay, but it will probably end up not being used and thrown in an empty drawer. There are too many limitations for it to be nice for day-to-day use.

Now if the Pro is priced at $500 or less, that would be an instant buy for me.

[Active.]

There is no way it would be that price. How would other hardware manufacturers be able to compete with that ?

They wouldn't. That's the point. Microsoft would be selling it at a loss.

Sure would be amazing for consumers though. :)

[scumdogmillionaire]

I was planning on being at the MS store to buy 2 on launch day, counting on them being about $499... at that price I'd start getting them as gifts!!!

[.Neo]

There is no way it would be that price. How would other hardware manufacturers be able to compete with that ?

They wouldn't be able to. Hell, even Microsoft will loose money per unit sold. It revolves around building name only. See it as a long-term investment for the company. But they could end up driving their partners away or into bankruptcy eventually. I suddenly understand why ASUS is so afraid of the Surface.

The whole tablet race is starting to remind me of the "Supermarket Wars" we had here in the Netherlands in 2008. All large supermarket chains went thermonuclear by lowering prices by incredible amounts. Commercial blocks became saturated with different supermarket ads announcing price cuts. At one point the groceries I'd normally get for ?150 cost me more than ?50 less. It was great for us, the consumer, but some companies almost went bankrupted because of it. A lot of products were being sold at great loss. As a result not only the supermarkets got into trouble after a while, but also smaller grocery stores which just couldn't compete anymore.

[DeadEndAccount]

If $199 is the launch price with no strings attached then I think it'll not only cause damage to Android on the tablet but iOS but the question is are they going to do something stupid and making it a US only launch? Zune was launched as US only and it took so long for international customers to purchase it that all buzz pretty much died over night. Microsoft has all the ingredients to make a great product launch which leads me to wonder whether they're going to sabotage their own product launch by doing something stupid like it being US only.

[giantpotato]

They wouldn't be able to. Hell, even Microsoft will loose money per unit sold. It revolves around building name only. See it as a long-term investment for the company. But they could end up driving their partners away or into bankruptcy eventually. I suddenly understand why ASUS is so afraid of the Surface.

Exactly. Both Sony and MS did the same with the PS3 and Xbox 360 at launch. Each unit was sold at a loss.

[threetonesun]

Wouldn't be a huge surprise, MS did sell the Xbox (both of them) at a loss for a while.

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Exactly. Both Sony and MS did the same with the PS3 and Xbox 360 at launch. Each unit was sold at a loss.

Yeah, but the BIG difference in that example is they both also had games that were meant to run on those units and that is where they made their money. You can technically pick up one of these and never buy a single piece of software for it. Now that likelihood of that happening is not very high, but it could happen. Where a games console, there really is no question about it, one will eventually purchase games for it.

[jakem1]

If $199 is the launch price with no strings attached then I think it'll not only cause damage to Android on the tablet but iOS but the question is are they going to do something stupid and making it a US only launch? Zune was launched as US only and it took so long for international customers to purchase it that all buzz pretty much died over night. Microsoft has all the ingredients to make a great product launch which leads me to wonder whether they're going to sabotage their own product launch by doing something stupid like it being US only.

This is my concern too.

Yeah, but the BIG difference in that example is they both also had games that were meant to run on those units and that is where they made their money. You can technically pick up one of these and never buy a single piece of software for it. Now that likelihood of that happening is not very high, but it could happen. Where a games console, there really is no question about it, one will eventually purchase games for it.

Microsoft will make money from app sales through the Windows Store.

[.Neo]

Yeah, but the BIG difference in that example is they both also had games that were meant to run on those units and that is where they made their money. You can technically pick up one of these and never buy a single piece of software for it. Now that likelihood of that happening is not very high, but it could happen. Where a games console, there really is no question about it, one will eventually purchase games for it.

With a tablet people for eventually purchase apps for it. Keep in mind Windows RT doesn't run any x86 Windows apps.

[Josh the Nerd]

Microsoft will make money from app sales through the Windows Store.

Wouldn't the average customer have to buy hundreds of dollars worth of apps to make up the difference?

[giantpotato]

Yeah, but the BIG difference in that example is they both also had games that were meant to run on those units and that is where they made their money. You can technically pick up one of these and never buy a single piece of software for it. Now that likelihood of that happening is not very high, but it could happen. Where a games console, there really is no question about it, one will eventually purchase games for it.

I'm guessing they're hoping people buy from the App store, failing that, I hear they have ads in some of the included apps. With the inclusion of Xbox live in windows 8, I'm guessing people already familiar with XBOX are more likely to buy games/apps for the surface, especially if there's platform cross compatibility with certain games.

[.Neo]

If $199 is the launch price with no strings attached then I think it'll not only cause damage to Android on the tablet but iOS but the question is are they going to do something stupid and making it a US only launch? Zune was launched as US only and it took so long for international customers to purchase it that all buzz pretty much died over night. Microsoft has all the ingredients to make a great product launch which leads me to wonder whether they're going to sabotage their own product launch by doing something stupid like it being US only.

Microsoft does have a lousy track record when it comes to international launches in recent years. I'm not getting my hopes up seeing the Surface in stores before 2013.