With great expectations comes great competition, at least in the computing technology industry nowadays. Microsoft, along with its brand partners, was clearly hoping that the release of Windows 8.1 will provide a much needed boost to tablet sales.
And while this has happened, things are not quite where these hardware companies anticipated.
To their credit, manufacturers have been trying to attract customers by offering some pretty neat products in a variety of different price ranges. But reportedly, channel retailers are seeing sales for the month of October hover around 20 to 30 percent below initial expectations.
This new report comes from DigiTimes — meaning it should be taken at face value, with a grain of salt.
Additionally, customers seem to be focusing on Android offerings and it’s seemingly sea of choices. Along with popular brand vendors, companies like Tesco and Argos have also started to offer budget slates. These companies had nothing to do with tablet manufacturing before this, of course.
But the Tesco Hudl, for example, has been well received and can be bought for $191. Carphone Warehouse, another new entrant on the market has also introduced the cheapest tablet so far at nearly insane price of $79.
Windows based tablet makers have also started to cut their prices, but not exactly at what the market was expecting. Most affordable Windows 8.1 slates start at $349 for the 32GB version.
These are still early days, and as the Holidays approach near, Windows 8.1 tablets may yet find themselves being discounted. The shopping and gifting season is where the real action is at, and we should have a clearer picture of where things stand then.
All Comments
Maybe expectations are too high. Maybe the biggest sales simply aren’t going to come in October. This race to the bottom is not good. People basically expect companies to give products away these days.
Microsoft SHOULD lower the prices on all Surfaces during the holiday season, at least.
have you look at the specs on that $79 table, but yet fry’s has it in their ads all the time. People are buying this thing and that alone is proof that there is no hope for the planet.