When Apple Inc. launched the iPad the most striking thing about the device, which would go on to define the tablet market, was the price. Five hundred dollars for an awesome browsing slate was quite the bargain, especially coming from a company famed for their premium pricing.
Now that the tablet “revolution” is in full swing, and Android is finally starting to look like a viable option, it’s pleasing to see that after a shaky start Google Inc. and their hardware partners are starting to pump out what appear to be decent quality devices at good prices.
The biggest surprise last week was the announcement that the peculiar-but-alluring Asus Eee Pad Transformer, a 10-inch slate that more-or-less matches the iPad in hardware terms (rocking a dual-core processor, IPS display, GPS, gyroscope, etc.) would be available in the United Kingdom for $610, or $32 less than the entry-level iPad. Throw in the keyboard dock, which sports a full keyboard, USB ports and almost double the Transformer’s battery life to 16 hours for $80 more and you’ve got a seriously competitive device. The Transformer is being released on April 6.
Elsewhere, Amazon.com UK has priced the Acer Iconia 7-inch Honeycomb slate for $483. It too is a full-featured device, with the same Tegra 2 dual-core processor as the Transformer, and all the bells and whistles you would expect. The Amazon.com listing names a release date of April 20. Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s U.K. arm, ASDA, recently dropped the price of the Samsung Galaxy Tab to $483, prompting other retailers to do the same.
With the current Honeycomb queen bee – Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.’s Xoom – due for a U.K. release alongside the Asus Transformer this week for $805 (slightly less than the equivalent iPad), it’s fair to say the tablets wars have begun this side of the pond. Apple may still have all the mindshare, but if Google’s hardware partners can continue to push the envelope in terms of lowering prices while retaining quality, that may all be about to change.
