Microsoft India has announced that it will be selling low-cost Windows tablets in India, for around Rs 10,000.
The announcement was made by Amrish Goyal, the director of Windows business group, in an interview with the Times of India.
The tablets could be manufactured by Computer OEMs HP, Dell and also by low-cost tablet manufacturers Karbonn and Lava. Microsoft had recently announced at the Mobile World Congress, that 9 new manufacturers will be bringing Windows Phones to their line ups, these include: Foxconn, Gionee, Lava (Xolo), Lenovo, LG, Longcheer, JSR, Karbonn and ZTE.
"We are reducing our required hardware specification for Windows to bare minimum that is needed for good experience. We want to be price competitive with Android. We want to get the bill of material for Windows tablets down," Amrish Goyal said."We will probably not sell a tablet for Rs 5,000. But yes, we will sell tablets with a price of around Rs 10,000 by middle of this year."
Goyal did not comment about the Windows 8.1 price cut for OEMs, which we reported last week. If true, manufacturers need only pay $15 for devices retailing for less than $250, instead of the usual $50 licensing fee. Declining PC sales is though to be another factor which has influenced Microsoft to make this decision. So it is crucial for Microsoft to compete in the tablet market, which is dominated by Android and Apple devices. Microsoft’s Windows tablets retail for over Rs 30,000, something which most Indians will not opt for, so the decision to sell low cost tablets would definitely help them boost sales in the Country.
Gartner reports that Microsoft sold 4 million tablets worldwide in 2013, as compared to 70 million tablets which were sold by Apple and 120 million Android tablets.
A Gartner analyst, Vishal Tripathi, said that,
"The Windows brand still resonates with people. They use Windows computers in offices. They are comfortable with it and if they have an option to get a Windows tablet at price that is similar to an Android tablet, they will likely pick it".
Microsoft’s biggest challenge however is their own App Store, which is severely limited in terms of available apps. This is also one of the reasons why people skip Windows Phones and Tablets. But Microsoft are working to bring more apps to their devices, most recent of which was the Facebook Messenger which was released yesterday.
via: The Times of India.