By Alexandra Burlacu
New Surface tablet computers with keyboards are displayed at its unveiling by Microsoft in Los Angeles, California, June 18, 2012.(Photo: Reuters)
The rumor mill went wild Thursday, July 26, after Swedish website Webhallen listed four different models of Microsoft's upcoming Surface tablet, with whopping prices ranging from $1,002 to $2,150. Rest assured, you will not have to burn such a hole in your wallet in order to grab a Surface tablet. As it turns out, the Swedish website's prices were purely speculative.
In response to a query by Techie Buzz, Webhallen acknowledged it has received no information on actual pricing from Microsoft. Instead, the site claimed it spiffed up the prices on four tablet models in order to lure in eager customers who want to pre-order
"Our customers are very interested in pre-ordering these products, so we have set a high preliminary pricing for the lineup so that they may be able to pre-order them," Webhallen told Techie Buzz. "Just to clarify, we have not received any pricing from Microsoft regarding MRSP or purchasing net cost, and any people who have booked the Surface at this high price will of course have their order adjusted before any product is shipped. So we're not going to overcharge anyone for being an early adopter."
It may seem weird that the site tried to lure in customers by jacking up the price of the tablet, but retailers do sometimes opt for this approach. More specifically, they inflate the prices of upcoming products thinking that once the product is released, lowering the price would attract more customers.
On the other hand, slightly bumping an estimated price is one thing but setting such an incredibly steep price tag seems like utter nonsense, especially considering that Apple's market-leading price tag starts at $499, which is half of the starting price Webhallen listed for the Surface tablet.
The Surface tablet is Microsoft's first foray into an already crowded and competitive tablet market. Microsoft needs aggressive pricing if it wants to challenge Apple and Android tablet makers.
Android vendors are constantly unveiling increasingly more budget-friendly tablets and a $1,000 price point for a newbie on the market would simply not make any sense. Microsoft has to compete with Apple's iPad on features, with Android vendors on price, and convince consumers that its Surface tablet can offer advantages that the iPad or Android tablets lack.
Microsoft has been vague so far about the pricing of the Surface tablet, but one thing is for sure: Webhallen's listed prices are not based on anything real. "Suggested retail pricing will be announced closer to availability and is expected to be competitive with a comparable ARM tablet or Intel ultrabook-class PC," said Microsoft. "OEMs will have cost and feature parity on Windows 8 and Windows RT."
Source: Mobilenapps
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