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Is Microsoft's Price Model For the Surface Justifiable?

Posted by Soulskill on from the solid-color-rectangles-are-pricy dept.

colinneagle writes "A blog post contending that Microsoft's decision to match Apple's iPad pricing on its Surface tablet will hurt its chances in the market has brought out some negative comments from readers who seem to like the Surface tablet. I was kind of surprised by this, as I and other bloggers seem to agree that making the fully keyboard-equipped Surface tablet roughly $120 more expensive than the iPad kind of negates the purpose — to build steam by appealing to those in the market for a cheaper tablet. Also, I've yet to see an argument that justifies pricing the Surface competitively with the iPad, so I figured I would bring the question to Slashdot: Is Microsoft's pricing for the Surface tablet justified?"

7 of 417 comments (clear)

  1. Yes. by MrEricSir · · Score: 5, Funny

    As we've seen time and time again, people are simply willing to pay more for Microsoft products than Apple products.

    --
    There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
    1. Re:Yes. by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Funny

      Sorry, we got mesmerized by the shear coolness of MS-Bob. Dragging the dog into the burning fireplace never gets old. (Please, no Korean cuisine jokes.)

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    2. Re:Yes. by tlhIngan · · Score: 5, Funny

      As we've seen time and time again, people are simply willing to pay more for Microsoft products than Apple products.

      So true! I mean, have you priced MacOS X? Apple wants what, $30 for it? Whereas Microsoft wants Windows 7 for over $100! And people buy it!

      Ditto with Office. I mean, the basic suite is $300 from Microsoft, while Apple's offering is under $100. And what do we have? Microsoft Office is everywhere.

      People have shown that yes, they're willing to pay more for Microsoft products than their obviously inferior cheaper knockoff Apple ones. Windows costs more than OS X, and Office costs more than iWork.

      And don't get me started on this "free software" thing. Software for nothing? There's obviously a reason why they can't charge for it.

      Obviously Microsoft has to price their stuff more than Apple to give it the premium appearance. I mean, who'd want a chintzy iPad when you can get a Surface? It costs more, it's definitely better!

    3. Re:Yes. by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 1, Funny

      Microsoft deserves to fail on MERITS, not price manipulation.

      --
      "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
      Never been known to fail..."
    4. Re:Yes. by Genda · · Score: 3, Funny

      Why of course you can... he just blue screens after the third "Oh Momma!!!", so you have to wipe the legacy code off your face and reboot him.

  2. Re:how much did it cost to build? by 0123456 · · Score: 3, Funny

    No-one gives a crap about how much it cost to build, other than Microsoft. What matters is how much people are willing to pay for it.

    Charging iPad prices for a Windows tablet makes about as much sense as charging Ferrari prices for a Ford Fiesta.

  3. Re:MS is not even in the game... yet by chicago_scott · · Score: 4, Funny

    I meant Microsoft developer.

    I'm surprised you didn't also write: "Ah ha! iPHone? You sure? There was never a product named iPHone. It's iPhone. Besides, 'H' is ASCII 72 and 'h' is ASCII 104. That's a full difference of 32 decimals. I hereby declare your entire entire post to be invalid and I challenge you to a duel!"