Microsoft Surface Will Sell for $199 in October

A few weeks ago, a retailer posted some pre-order prices for Microsoft’s Surface tablet that were nothing less than astronomical. But it didn’t take long for the truth to come out: These guesses didn’t reflect any actual knowledge of what the tablets would actually cost.
Microsoft has yet to provide the official word on prices, but there’s a new rumor that seems to be the opposite of last month’s, painting the picture of a very budget-priced Surface.
Supposedly, the source behind this new info comes from a closed-door session Microsoft held at its TechReady15 conference late last month. There, the company reportedly discussed the details of the Surface launch, including that it would arrive on Oct. 26 for just $199.
This is the Windows RT version we’re talking about, presumably the 32GB model. Microsoft had already stated that the RT Surface would be priced competitively with other tablets. But we weren’t expecting something quite this low — maybe in line with iPad prices, instead.
If this news is true, Surface could end up making a huge splash when it arrives, maybe even attracting away a few Android tablet fans who are interested in checking out a tablet that supposedly works so seamlessly with their desktop PCs, especially once everyone starts moving to Windows 8.
A price this low is just a bit hard to believe, but maybe Microsoft really is willing to take a hit on Surface hardware revenue in order to build up its user base, especially in the mobile sphere, where it’s been playing catch-up.