Motorola Xoom price official: $799 unsubsidized on Verizon, $600 for WiFi-only

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/16/motorola-xoom-price-official-799-unsubsidized-on-verizon-600/

by sandipc • 15 years ago

15 33 15 years ago

Then it's doomed. Any tablet with a higher price than the iPad fails to generate any kind of lasting interest, I don't see why it will be different here.

Which is sad, the Xoom looks like a great tablet.

ojbyrne• 15 years ago

Well, the wifi version is the same price, and, given the Apple nonsense of the past few days, if it lets me read and buy Kindle books, I'm likely going to be a customer.

cryptoz2• 15 years ago

The Xoom will mostly compete with the yet-to-be-announced iPad 2. The Xoom's specs completely blow the original iPad out of the water, so it's likely okay that it's priced above the current iPad; we'll have to wait and see what the iPad 2 brings to the table. If Apple can hit similar specs at a cheaper price then you might be right, but I doubt that'll happen.

The Xoom also has the Honeycomb advantage; I wonder what iPad 2's UI will look like. I think you underestimate how impressed average people will be when casually browsing tablets in stores. Honeycomb is gorgeous.

Andrewski4• 15 years ago

It needs to have higher specs, as it is running a knocked off Java. And as good as honeycomb cereal is, Android is pretty sluggish and ugly compared to iOS. iOS is <I><b>gorgeous.</b></I>

Nobody bought the iPad because of specs, aside from the battery life. If you think they did, you still do not understand the market, and are probably baffled that people are not buying Intel based tablets.

protomyth• 15 years ago

As Apple discovered from the other side of the fence, the better specs often don't overcome a large pricing difference. Also, betting that the iPad 2 will cost more than the iPad 1 is probably not a winning bet. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a price drop coming.

blinkingled3• 15 years ago

Well, the 32Gb iPad 1 with Wi-Fi is $599 and Motorola is quoting $600 for 32Gb Xoom with load of more features - USB 2.0 port in itself is a big win along with plenty (1Gb) of RAM.

christophe9712• 15 years ago

A message to anyone still believes the specs have something to do with the success of a tablet, against the iPad:

Only two things matter: The price, and the OS.

No tablet is even coming close to competing the iPad to this day only because of these two things. I'm not sure I actually have to dig into the mass grave of all "iPad killers" to prove my point.

Kylekramer• 15 years ago

I don't see why it has to be doomed at this price. It is in the same ballpark as the iPad. With a subsidy, it will appear even cheaper than iPad. I am sure it won't ever beat the iPad on sales, but I can easily imagine it being a very successful and profitable product.

We learned from the iPod competitors that cheaper price and cheaper looking devices, even with more features/storage, won't win. So why not go head to head with a similarly priced, similar build quality device? I feel like Apple gets this win-win perception. Competitor releases a cheaper product, it is called a piece of junk that is DOA. Competitor releases a similar or higher priced product, it is overpriced and DOA.

Plus, "[a]ny tablet with a higher price than the iPad fails to generate any kind of lasting interest, I don't see why it will be different here"? Isn't a bit early to say? There has been only one real competitor, and while the Galaxy Tab hasn't taken the world by storm, it seems to be doing a tidy business.

ryandvm• 15 years ago

I disagree. The Xoom has superior specs to the iPad. Pricing it any lower would give the consumer an unmistakable whiff of inferiority. Pricing it dead even with the iPad is exactly what Motorola should be doing.

rimantas• 15 years ago

Who cares about the specs? Does it offer better experience than iPad? If yes, then ok, it has the chance.

npalli2• 15 years ago

>>> Any tablet with a higher price than the iPad fails to generate any kind of lasting interest, I don't see why it will be different here

Which tablet higher priced than the iPad failed to generate any interest? Xoom should the first Honeycomb based tablet. Given how close the Xoom is the current iPad in price but blows it away in specs, hard to see why it should be priced lower than the current iPad.

blinkingled3• 15 years ago

Glad to see Moto doing the most sensible thing - Very appealing price even when compared against the yet-hypothetical iPad 2 which is not likely to have 1Gb of RAM, dual cameras or USB 2.0 port for that matter.

Synaesthesia• 15 years ago

I'm almost certain the iPad 2 will have 1gb RAM, a dual Core CPU, and at least a front facing camera. It won't have a USB port though.

Guess we'll have to wait and see though!

eftpotrm• 15 years ago

I can buy a 3G USB dongle for, what, £20? Heck, for that price difference, I can buy a whole 3G Kindle.

I find it very hard to believe they're both subsidised that heavily by their respective backers, so why (other than supporting the price of overpriced 3.7" tablets, er smartphones) is the 3G enabled tablet so much more expensive?

Andrewski4• 15 years ago

What an awful name. Of course the iPad gas a lame name, but at least it has an obvious pronunciation. I see "Xoom" and say "exhume" which means to dig a body up.

I think I smell the reek of death. Now if the exhume was only say, $300 for the wifi only unit, they'd have something. Even $400 would be too much for what consumers will call a "generic iPad" as even the hard-up could find another $99 if they already had $400 to drop on a toy like a tablet.

Exhume indeed. This may illustrate to clever marketers that for a lot of people, the obvious and seemingly correct pronunciation for a clever brand might bite them. My grandpa called Qwest "queue west" as they made him wait for a customer service agent too long for his liking. He was onto something.

sandipc• 15 years ago

when the Apple tablet was announced, the chosen name for the device was subject to ridicule for weeks on the internet. After it became one of the fastest selling tech products ever, the internet whiners were nowhere to be found...

Andrewski4• 15 years ago

What do you mean? The name is still awful.

Hell I am writing this on my iPad, and I still think it is an awful name.

On edit: you missed my main point, which is that Xoom has no clear pronunciation. Is it "zoom?" I am supposing that is what they want me to call it, but "exhume" is what it looks like.

kenjackson• 15 years ago

That $600 is a good price point for this device. I'm tempted to get one...

Tichy2• 15 years ago

The main problem for me is that they destroyed trust by refusing to update the Android OS on some of their phones. Presumably the same thing will happen on the tablet.

I wish for a "Nexus One" of Honeycomb tablets...

kbob2• 15 years ago

Google got burned when they tried to sell Nexus phones directly; they couldn't match the carriers' bundled prices. But it might make sense for Google to sell a WiFi-only tablet directly.

r00fus• 15 years ago

Via which retail store? They need someone to actually sell the product, and Google has no experience with end-customer product sales.

rudiger• 15 years ago

If Google can't match $600-800 dollars for a tablet device, that's just embarrassing.

Tichy2• 15 years ago

They don't have to sell it directly, only guarantee OS updates. Speaking of which, somehow I still don't have Gingerbread on my N1.

jra101• 15 years ago

Xoom is running a stock install of Honeycomb with no Motorola UI modifications so hopefully this means quick updates. Also a Wifi only version means no additional delay due to the network carrier.

ugh• 15 years ago

$600 is a good price point. Great to see that they will not only be selling a $800 model.

npalli2• 15 years ago

Wow, completely amazing pricing. Going to get the wi-fi version. This completely blow away the current iPad. Has front/back facing camera with video capture, better resolution, dual-core processor with graphics acceleration, HDMI, USB, microSD, Android 3.0 etc. Good strategy of going after the high end. After all, in another 6 months you will be able to get the current iPad like specs on the low end for $300/$400 from commodity players.

bane• 15 years ago

$299 for the 3g, $250 for the wifi, then we'll talk.

snitko• 15 years ago

There's also Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1" coming out soon, wonder what the price would be for that device. With all this new subscription policy mess Apple is making, I'd rather be sure I have a Kindle and an Audible apps and not overpaying for the content, so I'm seriously considering an Android tablet.

Motorola Xoom price official: $799 unsubsidized on Verizon, $600 for WiFi-only

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