Surface RT sales begin in Australia

Last week, news of Microsoft slashing Surface RT tablet prices in the US emerged, and though we have yet to hear the official announcement for the price reductions in Australia, it looks like the Australian Microsoft online store has already got its discounts in place.

Microsoft's online store is listing the 32GB Windows Surface RT with a $170 discount, bringing the RRP price down from $559 to $389. With a black Touch cover, the $679 price drops to $499 – a discount of $180.

The 64GB Surface RT also gets a $180 discount, dropping from $679 to $499, according to Microsoft's website. Strangely, the $709 64GB Surface RT with a black Touch cover only drops $100 to $609. Microsoft's site says the "special offer" is valid while stocks last.

The discounts seem to be mostly in line with US price cuts, which will see the 32GB Surface RT in the US dropping to US$349 and a 64GB with Touch cover dipping to US$549. Amazingly, the 64GB model and 32GB with Touch cover will drop to US$449, making them cheaper comparatively in Australia thanks to the weak Aussie dollar.

JB goes cheaper

Earlier today, tech site LifeHacker had listed JB Hi-Fi's prices as $388, $498 and $608 for the available three purchase options, but now it looks like the retailer has further reduced its prices on two of the products to compete with the Microsoft's own online reductions.

JB Hi-Fi had the 32GB Surface RT originally ticketed at $459, dropping the price to $384 – a discount of $75. The discount for the 32GB Surface RT with a black Touch cover has remained the same at $498, an $80 cut from the original ticketed price of $578.

For the 64GB Surface RT with a black Touch cover, the retailer dropped its price from $688 to $598 - a price cut of $90.

While the discounts through JB Hi-Fi doesn't seem to be as heavy as those to be seen in the US, it should be noted that JB Hi-Fi was already selling the Surface RT at a lower price point than Microsoft's Aussie online store was before this sale began.