Apparently the soon to be arriving Windows 8 based Tablets are going to cost an arm and a leg for consumers. The steep cost is reportedly due to an inability for either Intel or Microsoft to flex on prices. A properly equipped tablet (Windows 8 & Intel Clover Trail-W) will cost between six and nine hundred dollars. This is roughly one hundred dollars more than the Apple iPad 3 (due to be released in March).
Consumers and manufacturers alike will be hurt by the two companies stubbornness. According to a report by DigiTimes, vendors will be likely to choose ARM solutions from Nvidia, Texas Instruments, and Qualcomm to reduce overall costs in their forthcoming tablets. It appears Intel is pricing themselves out of the game.
Further supporting evidence that Intel is unwilling to compromise comes from makers of the new Ultrabook (a MacBook knockoff). Reports from these manufacturers say they are also unable to persuade a price break from Intel in order to make their products more affordable.
