Samsung's Galaxy TabPro S convertible Windows 10 tablet goes on sale March 18 for $899.99
Dan Seifert / The Verge :
Context & Ripple Effects
Samsung showed the Galaxy TabPro S at CES in January as a 6.3mm-thick Windows 10 2-in-1 running a dual-core Core M chip — thinner than Apple's iPad Pro — and today it actually reaches U.S. shelves at $899.99. That price places it squarely in Surface territory rather than alongside Samsung's own Android slates.
The move splits Samsung's tablet lineup by operating system: its flagship Galaxy Tab S2 opened U.S. preorders last summer at $400, while the TabPro S costs more than double that as a Windows convertible. The related coverage shows this wasn't a one-off — Samsung returned to the Windows 2-in-1 form two years later with the $1,000+ Galaxy Book 2.
First-order effects
- U.S. buyers shopping a Surface-class detachable now have a Samsung option at $899.99, with the Core M processor trading raw power for the 6.3mm profile that undercuts the iPad Pro on thickness.
Second-order effects
- Microsoft's Surface line faces direct price-point competition from a major OEM, while Intel gets a marquee retail showcase for its low-power Core M platform in the premium convertible category.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds through the later Galaxy Book 2 and the Tab S4/S6 Android flagships, Samsung's tablet business settles into a durable two-track structure: budget-to-midrange Android slates and $900-plus Windows convertibles aimed at laptop replacement.
The trend: Premium tablets are bifurcating into cheap Android slates and $900+ Windows detachables, with Samsung running both tracks against Apple's iPad Pro and Microsoft's Surface.