Microsoft Surface tablet may cost up to $800
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says the forthcoming Surface tablet is likely to cost anything between $ 300 and $ 800.
In an interview with the Seattle Times, the ‘Hank from Breaking Bad’ lookalike speaks of a ‘sweet spot’ for pricing, based around the current PC market.
The most expensive iPad (64GB with Wi-Fi and Celluar) costs $ 829 (£649), so even if the Surface ranges up to $ 800 it would still sit slightly below the iPad.
"We haven’t announced pricing (for the Surface). I think we have a very competitive product from the features perspective," said Ballmer.
Do your homework
"If you say to somebody, would you use one of the 7-inch tablets, would somebody ever use a Kindle (Fire) to do their homework?
"The answer is no; you never would. It’s just not a good enough product. It doesn’t mean you might not read a book on it.
"If you look at the bulk of the PC market, it would run between, say, probably $ 300 to about $ 700 or $ 800. That’s the sweet spot."
Ballmer’s estimate puts the UK price-point at anywhere between £185 for the smaller end models and £493 for the top-end model.
The Microsoft Surface tablet will go on sale on October 26 in the US and the UK, the same day that Windows 8 is released into the wild.