As splendid as the Microsoft Surface tablets look, if analysts are to be believed, the device may not do as well due to its ineffective pricing. Starting at $499, Shaw Wu – an analyst with Sterne Agee, feels that the tablet is far too expensive for consumers to want to pick one up. Microsoft also seems to be testing the waters rather cautiously, with intentions to build only 2-3 million units until December, as opposed to 5-6 million units of Google Nexus 7 and 3-4 million units of Amazon Kindle Fire HD tablets.
The price point may also make it more profitable for Microsoft’s hardware partners like Dell, HP, and Lenovo to introduce competing products at cheaper rates. However, it may not be as easy for them to overtake the Surface in the Windows-based tablets. According to Wu, Microsoft will definitely find it hard to overthrow the reigning tablet makers, Google and Amazon, who are offering their products at competitive prices to gain maximum share of the market.
Even in terms of quality, the company will find it hard to overtake Apple’s offerings – the iPad and iPad Mini, which may be priced similar, but have more appeal among the consumers. Let’s hope the Surface doesn’t go the way of Zune – Microsoft’s competitor to the iPod.
