Projected x86 Microsoft Surface Price US$500-700, RT below US$399, Non-Apple Tablets To Drop To US$150-200 Upon 7.85-inch iPad Release

Digitimes’ Aaron Lee and Joseph Tsai say that Microsoft’s in-house Surface tablets are expected to launch at the end of October with related supply chain players estimating that the Surface RT’s hardware cost at around US$300-400 and the end-user price will be less than US$399. However, they caution that the pricing speculated is not confirmed by Microsoft.

Lee and Tsai observe that Microsoft’s pricing strategy for its own-brand tablets will relatively affect PC brand vendors’ pricing strategy and sales projections for their Windows 8 tablets, and cite Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in a recent interview pointed to a price level between US$300-800 as the sweet spot for PC sales, with some market-watchers interpreting that as a hint of Surface pricing.

Non-Apple Tablets To Drop To US$150-200 Upon Release Of Upcoming 7.85-inch iPad

Digitimes’ Sammi Huang and Alex Wolfgram report that tablets currently priced in the US$199-400 range are expected to drop in price to US$150-200 in order to help non-Apple tablet makers stay competitive when Apple releases its reported 7.85-inch iPad, according to industry sources.

Huang and Wolfgram’s sources are predicting that Apple will have a big influence on the 7-inch tablet market just like it currently has with its 9.7-inch iPad series and competitors will need to drop their tablet prices as well as provide more value-added features for the devices.