if surface rt 2 is priced at $499

[WillysJeepMan]

It's $450. However it does appear to have a lot of upgrades. 1080p, 3-4x faster, USB3.0, better camera, thinner, lighter, 25% more battery life, one year of skype premium, and 200gb of skydrive for two years. Oh and the new two-stage kickstand where it lays down flatter for better viewing. Honestly, I use my Surface RT for hours every day from the table, couch, etc. So it's hard for me to argue it's worth less. However at $450 I don't think it will move in the market like they need it to.

I don't know if it's that bad.
Many people became interested in the RT at $349. Still others were rabidly interested in the factory refurb bundles for $199. Many of my acquaintances are ready to pounce on a $249 refurb bundle (if there's another wave) after checking out the RT bundle that I picked up for $199. They had no idea that the RT was "practically a full Windows PC". For them, running legacy apps was not an issue. For what they currently use their home computers for they could do it all on an RT.

The timing and pricing for the RT 2 is about right. Keeping the RT 1 at $349 will probably help sell the RT 2. All of those improvements for only $100 more? It's a no-brainer. So from that perspective, the RT 1 will help scaffold the RT 2 price.

Plus, there's a full month, month and a half, before the holiday shopping season kicks in. I can see Microsoft offering some Black Friday deals. RT1 Black Friday door-buster for $100 anyone?

The biggest challenge for Microsoft IMO is to get media coverage... encouraging coverage would be nice, but heck even neutral coverage would be better than the distorted coverage of the Surface line up to the point of the RT price drop.

 

[BenTR]

When I heard the rumored $500 price tag, I was thinking that it might have been leaked so that when the real, lower price was announced it would be a welcome surprise. Now seeing the real price is lower, I wonder if that's what happened.

I just got one of the cheap RT bundles, otherwise I would be seriously considering the Surface 2.

 

[surfacedude]

i own a surface rt and a surface pro. love'em. the surface rt is under-powered, but i can deal w/ that. the surface pro has poor battery life compared other tablets even though it's more of a laptop than a tablet. still ,i love them both. having said that, my feeling is that surface 2 at $500 (450 plus taxes will makes this about $500 purchase) will fail. will it be $620 or so w/ a keyboard? if you want a memory bump, that's probably another $100 at least.

it's just too much and i'm rather irritated that microsoft didn't learn much from the pricing of the first surface. i think surface 2 should be $400 w/ a touch cover. the bump should be no more that $125. if the margins are too thin w/ that pricing, then maybe focus on gaining a foothold in the market. get the thin into the hands of consumers so more developers will offers more apps. then figure out how to make the tablet profitable or more profitable. surface pro 2 is that same. should be no more than $700 w/ a cover.

maybe i'll be proven wrong. i hope so, because i love the hardware and the software and want to see it grow. i'm upset that microsoft appears intent on killing the platform through poor marketing and pricing.

 

[prlundberg]

The price does seem like a bit much, but only when compared to tablets which have questionable quality and almost no support. It's still a good value compared to iPads if the available apps meet your needs.

I'm glad Microsoft is keeping the Surface a premium product. There is plenty of low-end stuff on the way from Asus and Acer to fill in the bottom.

I still hate that the accessories are so dearly overpriced. There is no excuse for the Touch and Type keyboards to cost more than $50.

 

[surfacedude]

The price does seem like a bit much, but only when compared to tablets which have questionable quality and almost no support. It's still a good value compared to iPads

i agree which is why i own a pro and an rt, BUT convincing millions of people of this is unlikely at this price point, imo. i don't like apple products, but i have to say that they obviously know what they are doing. i really think microsoft should compete underselling the surface in terms of cost in hopes that they can gain a foothold in the market. w/ the losses they took w/ the surface rt, had they planned on that, they probably could have sold the rt for $250 w/ a cover. they could have moved a bunch of units and people would have been willing to overlook a bit of sluggishness and a lack of apps. w/ the surface 2 they could have then really improved the device and moved the price up a little. by surface 3, perhaps you're a legit alternative to ipads. at nearly $600 after taxes and w/ a cover, this will just be a marginal success over the rt. whoever is coming up w/ the sales strategy re: pricing should be let go. they're going to ruin the surface unless their strategy is to not move a lot of these and just hope that a future model will just make people flock to the device.

having said that, i'll likely move to a surface 2, because i think it's a great product. hopefully microsoft can convince a couple million others.

 

[WillysJeepMan]

i agree which is why i own a pro and an rt, BUT convincing millions of people of this is unlikely at this price point, imo. i don't like apple products, but i have to say that they obviously know what they are doing. i really think microsoft should compete underselling the surface in terms of cost in hopes that they can gain a foothold in the market. w/ the losses they took w/ the surface rt, had they planned on that, they probably could have sold the rt for $250 w/ a cover. they could have moved a bunch of units and people would have been willing to overlook a bit of sluggishness and a lack of apps. w/ the surface 2 they could have then really improved the device and moved the price up a little. by surface 3, perhaps you're a legit alternative to ipads. at nearly $600 after taxes and w/ a cover, this will just be a marginal success over the rt. whoever is coming up w/ the sales strategy re: pricing should be let go. they're going to ruin the surface unless their strategy is to not move a lot of these and just hope that a future model will just make people flock to the device.

having said that, i'll likely move to a surface 2, because i think it's a great product. hopefully microsoft can convince a couple million others.

The more I think about it, the more I'm leaning towards your perspective. There may still be time for MS to do that (sell the RT w/cover for $249) by the time the Surface 2 becomes available.

 

[Giddora]

I buy good tech as long as they are priced fair... I think $459 for the Surface 2 is fair.

 

[camptime]

The price does seem like a bit much, but only when compared to tablets which have questionable quality and almost no support. It's still a good value compared to iPads if the available apps meet your needs.

I'm glad Microsoft is keeping the Surface a premium product. There is plenty of low-end stuff on the way from Asus and Acer to fill in the bottom.

I still hate that the accessories are so dearly overpriced. There is no excuse for the Touch and Type keyboards to cost more than $50.

Type keyboard in Australia is $150 AU it is a joke.
On another note my Surface RT died last night, Have to send it in but would love to upgrade to Surface 2.

 

[wshwe]

I buy good tech as long as they are priced fair.. I think $459 for the Surface 2 is fair.

You and I think that's a fair price, but it's not our opinion that really counts. Millions of other people have to be convinced. "Fair" pricing doesn't necessarily lead to increased market share. Amazon and Google are willing to sell at or below cost.

 

[gilezzz]

..I'm going to get a Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro which is the only Windows 8 device that makes sense. I would only consider a Surface Pro 2 with dock, not sure about the price though.

 

[surfacedude]

..I'm going to get a Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro which is the only Windows 8 device that makes sense. I would only consider a Surface Pro 2 with dock, not sure about the price though.

i think this is a good. as others have mentioned, the cost of accessories are ridiculous. if a touch cover is roughly $125 here in the US, how much w/ the dock cost? $250? $300? only die hard surface lovers are will get it. again, i'll get one but at these price points microsoft is planning to fail.

i don't want to harp on what i've already said, but i'm just so frustrated. this same thing happened w/ the zune. i loved my zune. i left an ipod for a zune. microsoft really dropped the ball with that. they should have been giving zunes away dirt cheap, offer deals to move from apple to mircrosoft, make a real effort to gain some meaningful market share and then focus on generating profit or more significant profit. instead they let the zune die an embarrassing death.

microsoft seems like it simply refuses to learn. the deck is stacked against them in this kind of market and their main competitors in this market (google and apple) really know what they are doing. going head to head in competition with them is dumb. microsoft should be trying to undercut them.

if they're trying to model the success of the xbox, then that's another dumb move. video game systems are not an integrated experience like computers, phones, and music players. folks by apple and google because of the integrated experience and the quality of that experience. breaking into that market will require not just excellent integration and use experiences, but also shaking some parts of microsoft's reputation. apple for example is known for perfection or for really aiming at perfection. microsoft has more of a "close enough" reputation. the surface rt is a fine example. no one would ever say that the rt is plenty fast. in 2012-13 apple would never have released a tablet with that kind of power. microsoft did, though.

microsoft has a lot of ground to make up and a head-to head style strategy will fail, imo. again, i hope i'm wrong. if anyone has a different view, please let me know. i loved to be able to see things differently.

 

[Chregu]

i don't want to harp on what i've already said, but i'm just so frustrated. this same thing happened w/ the zune. i loved my zune. i left an ipod for a zune. microsoft really dropped the ball with that. they should have been giving zunes away dirt cheap, offer deals to move from apple to mircrosoft, make a real effort to gain some meaningful market share and then focus on generating profit or more significant profit. instead they let the zune die an embarrassing death.

But you wrote it yourself, a tablet is not a video game system. The hardware will have to change every year, it can't be sold for such a long time until the components are cheap enough for Microsoft to get into profitable areas. Also there are no games with which the device can be subsidized.

If they sell the Surface 2 at a loss to gain market share, won't they also have to sell the Surface 3 at a loss or increase the price considerably? Why should somebody suddenly pay twice the price of a previously cheap product when it's only a hardware refresh?

 

[surfacedude]

But you wrote it yourself, a tablet is not a video game system. The hardware will have to change every year, it can't be sold for such a long time until the components are cheap enough for Microsoft to get into profitable areas. Also there are no games with which the device can be subsidized.

If they sell the Surface 2 at a loss to gain market share, won't they also have to sell the Surface 3 at a loss or increase the price considerably? Why should somebody suddenly pay twice the price of a previously cheap product when it's only a hardware refresh?

i think that's pretty much what microsoft is thinking, but if that's a strategy that is not going to win them the market share they need to be successful, why pursue it? a price increase wouldn't all of a sudden, either. it would be gradual and only when the surface could stand as a legit alternative to the ipad, for example. as market share increases, build orders go up and you can buy parts for less by volume. that would be an opportunity to turn a profit, but it requires market share. given the short cycle for electronics, that's another reason why getting market share is vital.

microsoft can certainly build a legitimate alternative to the ipad and raise the bar for what tablets can be. the surface line proves that. the problem that they have is SELLING the product. microsoft is way behind.

how do they catch up? get a larger piece of the market. once you have that, once you have built and can sell an alternative to apple, then people will have a real choice between spending top dollar for X, Y, or Z. but until then, microsoft is pricing themselves out of the market because they can't offer the experience apple and google or rather they can't convince millions that they can...at this price point, imo

didn't we learn his from the fist surface? it's like they're trying almost the same thing again, but given the success of the first surface, they're even farther behind.

i'm sure microsoft have highly paid market analysts to assist with this sutff, but this strategy just seems self-evidently awful. i don't understand it.