Microsoft will probably price its own 8-in. Surface tablet running Windows RT at $349, just 6% higher than Apple's iPad Mini but nowhere near the basement $199 of Android rivals, an analyst said this week.



From Computerworld:

Sameer Singh, an analyst who covers tablets and smartphones at his Tech-Thoughts website, pegged the price of an expected Windows RT-powered Surface RT "Mini" using a bill of materials (BOM) estimate largely based on industry-wide commodity component costs.

Using the same techniques last year -- akin to the "virtual" tear-downs that other research firms have conducted before a rumored product is actually released -- Singh accurately predicted the eventual retail prices of Microsoft's Surface RT and Surface Pro tablets.

  Best-guess $349 price for smaller Surface RT pits Microsoft against Apple for high-end Mini market