While Android has plenty of low-cost tablets from a variety of manufacturers, such as Amazon with their Kindle Fire tablets, and even Google with the Nexus 7, the same unfortunately cannot be said for Microsoft whose Surface tablets are anything but cheap.
However word on the street has it that Microsoft could be looking to remedy that problem with a low-cost tablet that could be launched in India. According to the report from The Times of India, it seems that Microsoft’s rumored low-cost tablet could cost as low as Rs10,000, which when converted is roughly $160.
The report goes on to claim that the tablet will be exclusive to customers in India, although we’re not sure why Microsoft wouldn’t want to gain some market share over in the US with affordable tablets as well.
At the moment, Android tablets are apparently dominating the tablet scene in India, and while there are Windows tablets available, their prices just aren’t competitive enough to make customers want to switch brands and platforms.
In fact the creation of a low-cost Windows tablet seems to be in line with what we have heard about Microsoft’s plans recently, which is to lower the cost of licensing the Windows Phone platform. There has even been rumors suggesting a free version of Windows 8.1 with Bing, indicating that Microsoft is really trying to get everyone to hop onboard the Windows platform.
A recent report from Gartner has also shown that Microsoft’s tablet market share is well below that of the competition, so it would make sense that Microsoft might try to capture the market with low-cost tablets of their own. What do you guys think? Does a low-cost Windows tablet sound appealing to you?
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