Microsoft Store slashes prices on Windows 8 tablets, hybrids
Microsoft is implementing pretty stiff price cuts on some laptop-tablet hybrids. Is this just the beginning?
In what could be a sign of things to come, the Microsoft Store is slashing prices on a variety of hybrid laptop-tablet models.
Here are some of the highlights now appearing on the Microsoft Store "Tablets and Convertibles" page:
- Toshiba Satellite U925t-S2130 Convertible Ultrabook: Cut to $799 from $1,149. 12.5-inch screen, Core i5 Intel chip, 128GB solid-state drive (SSD). (Read the CNET review.)
- Acer Iconia W510-1674 Tablet: reduced to $399 from $499. 10.1-inch display, Intel Atom 1.8GHz "Clover Trail" Z2760 chip, 32GB SSD. (Read the CNET review.)
- HP ENVY x2 11-g012nr Touchscreen: Now $599, was $849. 11.6-inch screen, Intel Atom 1.8GHz "Clover Trail" Z2760 chip, 64GB SSD. (Read the CNET review.)
- Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro 700T Tablet: Cut to $999 from $1,199. 11.6-inch screen (1,920x1,080), Core i5 Intel chip, 128GB SSD. (Read the CNET review.)
These could be just run-of-the-mill price reductions on models that aren't moving. Or a sign of something more serious.
On that latter point, IDC analyst Bob O'Donnell told CNET last month that Windows 8 PC sales are "horribly stalled."
And IDC said in March that it expects computer shipments to drop 1.3 percent this year, worse than its prior view for a 2.8 percent rise. And that decline comes after a 3.7 percent slide in 2012.
Updated at 10:35 p.m. PDT: As of 10:30 p.m. PT, the Microsoft Store was temporarily down.
Updated at 10:45 p.m. PDT: The store is back up. Note that the Acer Iconia W510-1674 Tablet was listed at $399 earlier in the day and is now back to $499 (after the store went back up). And note that all convertible models were previously viewable on one page. Now they're divvied up into two pages.
