Released amid much excitement and fanfare, the Microsoft Surface tablet was shrouded in one particular mystery at its debut: How much would it cost? Wednesday, Swedish website Webhallen listed a retail price for the upcoming tablet: 6,900 Swedish kronor, which is $1,003.51 in U.S. currency.
That price is for the ARM-powered Surface tablet, which is running Windows RT with 32GB of storage. The Microsoft Surface Pro, a higher-end unit packing 128GB of disk space and running Windows 8, will reportedly sell for an eye-popping $2,152 (14990 kr) in Sweden.
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We contacted Microsoft, asking if company representatives had any comment about these prices that are much higher than other tablets. We will let you know if we get a response to our query.
If these prices are anywhere near the U.S. retail prices for these two products, the lowest-priced Microsoft Surface tablet will be hitting a tough market costing roughly 50% more than a 32GB iPad with a Retina display. Perhaps Microsoft was thinking its pricing for Surface should be more in line with that of higher-end laptops.
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What do you think? Will Microsoft succeed with its Surface if its pricing starts around $1,000? Or is that $1,000 figure not indicative of the pricing for the U.S. market?
This story originally published on Mashable here.