Has Microsoft lost their minds pricing accessories?

[mitchellvii]

Right now the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2's big competition will be coming from Dell with their Bay Trail and Haswell Venue Pro Lines.

One of the glaring differences is pricing of accessories. The Dell Mobile Keyboard which has a battery inside and will provide up to 17 hours of Venue Pro use sells for only $99. Meanwhile the Surface Power Cover coming in 2014 is slated at a mind-boggling $200 (entire tablets cost less).

Does Microsoft do any market research prior to pricing their products at all? Did they learn nothing from the Surface 1 debacle?

C'mon Microsoft, wake up. I'm not saying Dell's product is better but at least their pricing is not insane.

$99 for this (with battery):

 

[leeshor]

Aint competition great?:cool2:

 

[mitchellvii]

Aint competition great?:cool2:

Yep, I hope MS wakes up before it's too late.

I've used MS for many many years and i want them to succeed. That's why i get so pissed at them when they keep fumbling on the one yard line.

 

[The White Falcon]

It's been the same with the Xbox. They were pretty consistent with charging more than $1 per GB (in some cases closer to $4 or $5 per GB) for their 'proprietary' Xbox 360 hard drives...which were a standard 5400 RPM 2.5" SATA hard drive with a special plastic shell. Last I saw prices had calmed down, but...

IMO, charge $69 for the Touch Cover, $79 for the Type Cover, and $119 for the Power Cover.

 

[mitchellvii]

Microsoft prices with a monopoly mentality. Dell and Sony get it.

Someone explain to me why I should pay more for an RT tablet than one running full Windows?

 

[The White Falcon]

Heh, Sony only 'got it' recently.

The Surface does have a good amount of quality to it. I felt $449 was a fair price for the hardware you get on the 2.

I think the RT should probably go to $299, but I can see the mentality of $349...it's only a little more than the much smaller iPad mini.

Microsoft prices with a monopoly mentality. Dell and Sony get it.

Someone explain to me why I should pay more for an RT tablet than one running full Windows?

 

[demandarin]

Well the surface Rt..or even better the surface 2 is optimized around win8/8.1 metro UI. I know the Haswell and full blown OS can do the same things. But I will say is that Sirface2 with tegra4 performs better with metro than any bay trail device I've seen. Bay trail is either on par or slightly netter CPU wise. But tegra4 gpu bests bay trail one easily. Since bay trail gpu is a gimped version of HD 4000. plus k believe the sirface2 will pull better battery life Than any bay trail device by itself.

You even have to admit, the Sirface2 is a great piece of machinery. Despite the OS. On my pro I only use desktop for IE or steam. Other than that I'm always on metro UI.

Plus you have to realize, not everyone is like us and want the most. Most people, example Ipad owners, want something simple and works. A full blown win8 PC scares slot of folks. Win rt brings that simplicity form factor yet can get more productivity done than an Ipad could ever dream of.

Don't sleep on the Surface 2 as its had the most dramatic changes out of the new Surface lineup. Km a power user who hasn't even really tapped into pro capabilities. Aside from steam, so far, I could get by with a sirface2 instead. But knowing me, id rather have more power regardless if I'm using yet or not.

You are right though. It will be harder for Sirface2 purchases to be justified when you can get a full blown win8 version for slightly less. Remember though, just like apple, you're paying for the better build quality. As of right now, there is not a single other device or tablet out now who's design or build is better than surface. All baytrails are plastic with mostly lower resolution screens. Few deliver full HD like the sirface2 or pro2. Yeah I wish sirface2 was cheaper but imo, still worth it. At least it cheaper than last year pricing.

I do agree the accessory pricing is high. But then again, no other accessories for any other OEM is breaking new ground like the surface line. Give credit where its do. Of course they could do better but for their first or second venture out, I see them doing well. They pushing boundaries others are afraid to push on.

 

[oion]

It's obvious that Windows RT is designed as a low-maintenance and locked-down OS to facilitate adoption off Apple and Android. Those users wouldn't want a full-blown Windows desktop that is, simply put, high maintenance. They'd have to look into anti-malware and so on. WinRT is thus designed as a "gateway" or halfway mark into the Windows ecosystem where significantly more functionality is offered but without too much complexity and breakage associated with full Win systems (the 8.1 rollout notwithstanding). From that perspective, there's no reason why someone who doesn't care about the "full Windows experience" should choose a Win8 device when they have a set of needs covered entirely by Surface RT (Office and Web)*. And the Surface lines, both of them, are great pieces of hardware. MS really did innovate even if some anti-MS fanatics can't see that; first kickstand, first removable cover keyboard built to the chassis connection, tiny footprint, great build quality. I wouldn't buy anything less than a metal and glass chassis again, so I'd rather splurge on a premium unit. As for accessories, eh... I'm used to imported Japanese premium accessories for my subnotebooks so I have no comment.

P.S.: I absolutely loathe chiclet keyboards like that pictured, so I was extremely happy that the Type isn't designed like that.

*And no, you're not comparing the Surface RT to an "equally" priced Win8 machine because you forget the entire MS Office suite, even if it is the RT version. That's a big deal, roughly $140 at retail difference or $100/year.

 

[mitchellvii]

It's obvious that Windows RT is designed as a low-maintenance and locked-down OS to facilitate adoption off Apple and Andhttp://www.surfaceforums.net/forum/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=40104roid. Those users wouldn't want a full-blown Windows desktop that is, simply put, high maintenance. They'd have to look into anti-malware and so on. WinRT is thus designed as a "gateway" or halfway mark into the Windows ecosystem where significantly more functionality is offered but without too much complexity and breakage associated with full Win systems (the 8.1 rollout notwithstanding). From that perspective, there's no reason why someone who doesn't care about the "full Windows experience" should choose a Win8 device when they have a set of needs covered entirely by Surface RT (Office and Web)*. And the Surface lines, both of them, are great pieces of hardware. MS really did innovate even if some anti-MS fanatics can't see that; first kickstand, first removable cover keyboard built to the chassis connection, tiny footprint, great build quality. I wouldn't buy anything less than a metal and glass chassis again, so I'd rather splurge on a premium unit. As for accessories, eh... I'm used to imported Japanese premium accessories for my subnotebooks so I have no comment.

P.S.: I absolutely loathe chiclet keyboards like that pictured, so I was extremely happy that the Type isn't designed like that.

*And no, you're not comparing the Surface RT to an "equally" priced Win8 machine because you forget the entire MS Office suite, even if it is the RT version. That's a big deal, roughly $140 at retail difference or $100/year.

You are overthinking it, pretty much the same thing Microsoft does and a big reason they tend to lose money on their hardware. BTW, not sure about Venue Pro 11 but Venue Pro 8 featuring full Windows 8.1 also comes with free Office as well as an optional pen. Oh yeah, and a removable battery - all for $299. Pardon me but Dell just stole the whole student market from MS by offering a full Windows 8.1 tablet with a pen in an portable size. MS not offering a pen with Surface 2 was a huge mistake.

It would be different if RT's name wasn't mud. And the Venue Pro 11 line starts at $499, $400 less than the least expensive Pro.

As far as worrying about viruses and such, Windows 8.1 comes with Defender for free. Find me one reputable technology reviewer who thinks Surface 2 going RT is a good idea. Every review I have read pretty much goes like this - Surface 2 is a beautiful piece of hardware, too bad it's RT.

Face it, Dell and Sony are out for blood and they have the economies of scale and pricing power to bring Microsoft to its knees. Microsoft may as well accept the reality and price their products competitively now before they are forced to later.

If Microsoft does not lower their pricing structure, especially their accessories which this thread is about, this rollout will not succeed. Microsoft should be using their deep pockets to undercut on price right now and buy some marketshare, not the other way around.

 

[demandarin]

Regardless win RT is here for the long haul and doesn't subtract from the Sirface2 being a great piece of machinery/hardware. We will see how well it does. But based on reading here and other forums such as redditt, the Sirface2 is pretty hot right now. It will sell netter than first generation.

Plus don't forget, MS never really loses in the end. Even if the other tablets sell better, MS still wins because its more of their OS licenses being sold. Must be great to be MS. They win regardless. They even making more money off of android than Google themselves..lol

Btw, I like win RT on first generation surface. It performs much better than people give it credit for. Especially on win8.1.

 

[The White Falcon]

Dell's name is mud with any tech person. They've built crap for so many years it's hard to imagine trusting them for any length of time. Microsoft is counting on people paying a premium for a premium device, like they do with Apple products. But I think they've realized they're not there yet, which is why the Surface 2 now costs less than an iPad.

I do hope that MS enables the pen support on the Surface 2, especially if the hardware can do it.

You are overthinking it, pretty much the same thing Microsoft does and a big reason they tend to lose money on their hardware. BTW, not sure about Venue Pro 11 but Venue Pro 8 featuring full Windows 8.1 also comes with free Office as well as an optional pen. Oh yeah, and a removable battery - all for $299. Pardon me but Dell just stole the whole student market from MS by offering a full Windows 8.1 tablet with a pen in an portable size. MS not offering a pen with Surface 2 was a huge mistake.

It would be different if RT's name wasn't mud. And the Venue Pro 11 line starts at $499, $400 less than the least expensive Pro.

As far as worrying about viruses and such, Windows 8.1 comes with Defender for free. Find me one reputable technology reviewer who thinks Surface 2 going RT is a good idea. Every review I have read pretty much goes like this - Surface 2 is a beautiful piece of hardware, too bad it's RT.

Face it, Dell and Sony are out for blood and they have the economies of scale and pricing power to bring Microsoft to its knees. Microsoft may as well accept the reality and price their products competitively now before they are forced to later.

If Microsoft does not lower their pricing structure, especially their accessories which this thread is about, this rollout will not succeed. Microsoft should be using their deep pockets to undercut on price right now and buy some marketshare, not the other way around.

 

[mitchellvii]

Do you realize Microsoft is charging $50 for their car charger? A freaking car charger! $50!

They have lost their minds.