Asustek to Make Small Windows 8 Tablets
Taiwanese PC Manufacturer Expects Prices to Drop Below $300 — Asustek Computer Inc. of Taiwan plans to sell small Windows 8 tablet computers this year, giving a boost to Microsoft Corp.'s efforts to reduce the size and price of mobile devices running its operating system.
Context & Ripple Effects
Asus enters 2013 trying to correct its own Windows 8 misstep: its first wave of tablets launched at prices ZDNet flagged as too high for the demand they drew in September 2012. The pivot to small screens is also a response to a pricing gap inside Microsoft's own lineup — Lenovo had argued its RT tablets were up to $300 cheaper than comparable Windows 8 machines, leaving full Windows uncompetitive at the low end.
By committing to sub-$300 small Windows 8 tablets this year, Asustek gives Microsoft an anchor OEM for the size-and-price reduction it has been pushing since Acer and Toshiba announced their own iPad-targeted Windows 8 tablets back in June 2012. The story traveled widely on pickup day, running through Engadget, Ars Technica, PC World and The Verge.
First-order effects
- Microsoft gains a flagship Taiwanese OEM shipping small-screen Windows 8 hardware at a sub-$300 price point Asustek itself confirmed, directly attacking the value tier where its OS had been absent.
- Buyers who found Asus's 2012 Windows 8 pricing prohibitive get a materially cheaper entry point into full Windows tablets within the same product year.
Second-order effects
- Acer, Toshiba and Lenovo face pressure to match the sub-$300 small-tablet tier or cede the volume end of the Windows tablet market to Asus, repeating the competitive dynamic their June 2012 iPad-challenging launches set up.
- The move sharpens the internal pricing conflict Lenovo exposed — if full Windows 8 tablets approach RT prices, Microsoft's two-OS tablet strategy loses its price justification at the low end.
Third-order effects
- If the sub-$300 tier becomes standard among PC makers, Microsoft faces a structural squeeze between keeping per-license revenue intact and letting its hardware partners compete with cheaper rival tablets — a tension that points toward cheaper Windows licensing or deeper integration of software and device economics.
- Taiwanese ODMs like Asustek consolidate their role as the price-setting layer for Windows mobile hardware, with Microsoft's platform strategy increasingly dependent on their cost curves rather than its own premium positioning.
The trend: Windows tablet hardware is migrating from premium large-screen launches toward small, sub-$300 devices as PC makers chase the price tiers where Microsoft's OS has been uncompetitive.