Windows 8 Intel tablets may be priced to fail

Windows 8 tablets may be priced to fail
Nvidia's Windows 8 tablet may be laughing

Tablets running Windows 8 on Intel architecture may be priced too high to succeed in the tablet market, with rumoured pricing hitting the $600-$800 ball park because neither Windows nor chip-maker Intel are willing to drop their prices.

In the UK, that converts to £400 to £530 (but likely to be higher with tax). While this kind of price point works if you're hawking, say, an iPad, Microsoft will have a pretty tricky job on its hands to lure Apple slate-lovers away from iOS and over to Windows 8-lite for the same money.

The reason neither company wants to go lower on prices is partly good old-fashioned greed, but also because they are loathe to "damage" pricing in the PC market; cheaper tablets could force down the prices of PCs, notebooks, software - otherwise known as Microsoft's bread and butter.

Cash poor

Digitimes reckons that if Intel isn't careful, manufacturers are likely to opt for ARM-based architecture from Qualcomm, Nvidia and Texas Instruments to avoid the higher prices.

While this might be a more wallet-friendly approach, it may leave you feeling a bit short-changed on specs and performance.

Not that any Windows 8 tablets have actually launched yet, despite a glut of prototypes hitting CES 2012; check back in the latter half of the year.

From Digitimes via BGR

News Editor (UK)

Former UK News Editor for TechRadar, it was a perpetual challenge among the TechRadar staff to send Kate (Twitter, Google+) a link to something interesting on the internet that she hasn't already seen. As TechRadar's News Editor (UK), she was constantly on the hunt for top news and intriguing stories to feed your gadget lust. Kate now enjoys life as a renowned music critic – her words can be found in the i Paper, Guardian, GQ, Metro, Evening Standard and Time Out, and she's also the author of 'Amy Winehouse', a biography of the soul star.