windows phone 8 pricing... how much is too much?

[Reflexx]

i understand, but truly how many peiople would use a tablet for this? and even then, there is a lot less hardware so it shouldnt cost as much as an ultra book... look at ipad sales, and it is an over sized ipod?

I venture a lot if people would use it as a laptop replacement.

As for iPads... you're taking technology that fits in a phone and putting it in a tablet. Easy. You have a bunch of room.

For Win8 tablets, you're shrinking full laptops into a smaller package, while adding touch responsiveness. Much more complex.

I agree that RT tablets will need to be under $500. But I think people will pay more for a nice Win8 laptop replacement.

 

[bear_lx]

sure, i see your point...

and i agree to a point, but to ultimately win marketshare they need to be competitive to give people a reason to come over. and im not talking about rational folks who have half a brain, im talking about the tech ignorant people who make up a large portion of ipads marketshare... marketshare brings devs, devs bring apps, apps bring more customers, more customers bring more oem accessories, which ultimately make happy windows 8 customers!

 

[Reflexx]

sure, i see your point...



and i agree to a point, but to ultimately win marketshare they need to be competitive to give people a reason to come over. and im not talking about rational folks who have half a brain, im talking about the tech ignorant people who make up a large portion of ipads marketshare... marketshare brings devs, devs bring apps, apps bring more customers, more customers bring more oem accessories, which ultimately make happy windows 8 customers!

There's a tough balancing act though. If they price themselves too low, it will be associated with "cheapness".


But even if they can avoid that stigma, they will have painted themselves into a corner. If Win8 tabs are priced so low that OEMs can't make any money, they may gain market share but lose money. But even worse, they'll establish a precedent that customers will expect to be followed in the next wave of devices. Any price increases to later devices will be met with outrage.

I will say that your business model could work if OEMs looked at their tablets as products that they'd sell for 3 yrs, with no hardware improvements. Then they could hope to make up losses in the first few months with sales in the latter years. It would be mighty risky though. I actually thought Lenovo's $799 price sounded extremely competitive considering most Ultrabooks are close to $1000.

 

[brmiller1976]

Microsoft SHOULD be the "cheap choice."

That was how it became dominant -- selling Windows PCs for 1/4 the price of Macs. It made them empowering and put a modern PC on the desktop of most anybody who wanted one (versus the Mac, which was "exclusive").

The Windows Phone "price the same as Apple" strategy has been an abject failure that Microsoft and its OEMs appear content to keep repeating (judging from US pricing for 8X and Euro pricing for 820/920), despite that failure.

It blows me away that they keep ignoring their lessons from the PC past.

 

[Reflexx]

MS shouldn't be the "cheap choice" when comparing apples to oranges.

Bring the price of a full PC in a tablet to below iPad pricing would likely need cheap hardware parts. It also would require deals with software makers to include bloatware on the desktop side that would be a pain to remove. Not to mention the tablets being plastered with stickers.

Windows isn't seen as a premium experience because of the sacrifices that were made to become cheap. And Apple came along and offered an alternative that consumers are scooping up.

If we compare apples to apples, then yes, WinRT tablets should be cheaper than iPads. But having Win8 tablets cheaper is pushing it.

 

[bear_lx]

they should start by selling these new windows 8 devies at introductory pricing and make them amazing deals! but market them as introductory so it creates a sense of urgency. and then so that after 3 months or so, the prices are raised to retail or standard pricing. its a great marketing tactic, and a brilliant way to gane quick marketshare and creat hype.

 

[bear_lx]

MS shouldn't be the "cheap choice" when comparing apples to oranges.

Bring the price of a full PC in a tablet to below iPad pricing would likely need cheap hardware parts. It also would require deals with software makers to include bloatware on the desktop side that would be a pain to remove. Not to mention the tablets being plastered with stickers.

Windows isn't seen as a premium experience because of the sacrifices that were made to become cheap. And Apple came along and offered an alternative that consumers are scooping up.

If we compare apples to apples, then yes, WinRT tablets should be cheaper than iPads. But having Win8 tablets cheaper is pushing it.

agreed, the "cheap" idea is what gave a lot of people a bad taste in their mouth when buying low end laptops and pc's, like emachines. and although the oem's are what made the cheap pc's, and MS was only the OS, the mass majority doesnt know this. i like the idea of having quality hardware across the board... but they need to be competitive.

 

[brmiller1976]

The right price is one where it's low enough to be a "no brainer" and overcome doubts.

Being "lower than iPhone/Galaxy S III but close" isn't good enough. It needs to be MUCH cheaper (like a free 8X on contract with T-Mobile).

 

[bear_lx]

The right price is one where it's low enough to be a "no brainer" and overcome doubts.

Being "lower than iPhone/Galaxy S III but close" isn't good enough. It needs to be MUCH cheaper (like a free 8X on contract with T-Mobile).

this wont work... and it hasnt... look at the radar, nokia 620, ect... people will pay for quality. but like stated earlier there needs to be a balance. they do need incentive, but selling them too cheap or giving them away will make some people think they are junk, imo

 

[brmiller1976]

The Radar and 620 are not high-end phones, though I would note that the Radar WAS the 2nd/3rd best-selling T-Mobile handset until Microsoft EOLed WP7 in June.

Microsoft needs to sell phones the way they sell PCs.

HIGH END, at a low price.

Comare an HP laptop to an Apple one, for instance. The HP typically is faster, has more RAM, a better microprocessor, more storage and sells for 1/3 to 1/2 less than the Apple machine. That's why they sell so well.

They need to do that in phones too.

Selling a "me too" phone at the same price will be a recipe for failure. Windows Phone will not succeed with the current pricing and release strategy, if the European Nokia pricing and US HTC holds up. Few people will consider it for the same price as the safe choices, and the handsets being shown lack significant technical differentiation from the competition outside of minor areas like the camera.

 

[palandri]

I remember years ago in a Palm forum there was a guy who worked for a couple of manufacturers and did a good job explaining pricing and profit margins. He seemed to know what he was talking about. I'll explain it the best I can from what I remember.

What he basically said was that all manufacturers shoot for a 30% profit margin on the life cycle of their product (18 months I guess) He said all manufacturers start out by marking up their product 55 to 60%, Then through the life cycle of the product, they will lower the price and the profit margin will ultimately get as low as 5 to 10% to get rid of the product they have left. In the end, they want to hit the 30% profit margin average through the complete life cycle.

That's basically what he said.

 

[X0LARIUM]

http://wmpoweruser.com/samsung-ativ-s-on-pre-order-for-549-99-euro-100-euro-cheaper-than-the-nl-920/

Guess who's considering Ativ!

Sent from my RaZr HD.

 

[Winterfang]

The right price is one where it's low enough to be a "no brainer" and overcome doubts.

Being "lower than iPhone/Galaxy S III but close" isn't good enough. It needs to be MUCH cheaper (like a free 8X on contract with T-Mobile).

I think Windows Phone needs to be both cheaper and more fully feature than Apple.

That's how they got marketshare against Apple, Android is doing the same extrategy and they are destroying.

Also, why doesn't Microsoft try to take the Blackberry market? Keyboard phones with full versions of office and other microsoft productive applications build right in!. Not colored phones that no one over the age of 40 will be caught dead with. There's a market for both options.

Edit: made a typo, I meant over the age of 40.

 

[Winterfang]

Samsung ATIV S on pre-order for 549.99 Euro, 100 Euro cheaper than the NL 920 | WMPoweruser

Guess who's considering Ativ!

Sent from my RaZr HD.

I said it before and I say it again. Samsung knows what the **** they are doing.

 

[CamiKitti]

I always buy with a contract, so I hope it's around $99-$299.

 

[Reflexx]

If WP wants to win, they should have be able to run all XBOX 360 games, have a DSLR camera packed in a slim body, weigh less than air, and cost $1.99 off-contract.

Otherwise, MS doesn't know what they're doing.

 

[freestaterocker]

I remember years ago in a Palm forum there was a guy who worked for a couple of manufacturers and did a good job explaining pricing and profit margins. He seemed to know what he was talking about. I'll explain it the best I can from what I remember.

What he basically said was that all manufacturers shoot for a 30% profit margin on the life cycle of their product (18 months I guess) He said all manufacturers start out by marking up their product 55 to 60%, Then through the life cycle of the product, they will lower the price and the profit margin will ultimately get as low as 5 to 10% to get rid of the product they have left. In the end, they want to hit the 30% profit margin average through the complete life cycle.

That's basically what he said.

Except Apple. Their markup is approximately 350%, and they don't drop it. Ever. If I found a way to buy a sim-free iPhone 4 directly from Apple it would be the same price it was 2 years ago when the phone was released. That's what makes them geniuses.

 

[freestaterocker]

If WP wants to win, they should have be able to run all XBOX 360 games, have a DSLR camera packed in a slim body, weigh less than air, and cost $1.99 off-contract.

Otherwise, MS doesn't know what they're doing.

Well-played, sir.

 

[X0LARIUM]

I'm doing rounds of various sites to check the Ativ S...if its fairly good and at a low price....Meh WTH...

Sent from my RaZr HD.

 

[Daniel Ratcliffe]

It will all come down to 820 vs ATIV S pricing for me. If the ATIV costs LESS than the 820, then A) WTF are Nokia doing, and B) I'll be pretty much set on the ATIV even though I want to go to a smaller screen (I have the TITAN atm, with the 4.7" screen), and move to Nokia for their colourful designs.