Windows RT cost cut for vendors is on the cards

by Mark Tyson on 4 June 2013, 14:45

Tags: Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), ARM, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), HTC (TPE:2498)

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Microsoft is hoping that a cut in the price of Windows RT software to hardware vendors will help promote manufacture and growth of the platform. “People with knowledge of the matter” talking to Bloomberg said the price cut would be aimed at “small-sized” Windows RT devices. Also in Windows RT related news today Qualcomm has announced that its Snapdragon 800 SoC will “be featured in upcoming Windows 8.1 RT computers”. Perhaps it’s behind the new Surface devices?

Cut price Windows RT OS

Microsoft hasn’t published the price which it charges device makers for its Windows RT operating system but a price cut would no doubt be welcome and may convince some to follow through on plans to make Windows RT devices. Only last week we heard about HTC abandoning plans for an RT device, though the firm is going ahead with producing a smaller sized RT tablet.

Wes Miller, a computer industry analyst speaking to Bloomberg said “You need more breadth of equipment manufacturers making the devices, you need lower prices, you need a better selection of devices”. These things will help make Windows RT a “long term viability” he said. Currently Windows RT devices account for less than one per cent of the tablet market, according to IDC.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 “to be featured in upcoming Windows 8.1 RT computers”

New devices based on Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processors and Windows RT 8.1 are expected to be on shelves later this year, the ARM chipmaker has announced. The Snapdragon 800 supports up to 4 cores running at 2.2GHz, USB 3.0, integrated 4G/LTE connectivity and display resolutions up to 2,560 x 2,048 pixels.

Qualcomm says its chip customers have built “tablets, convertibles and notebooks that are thin and fan-less, and deliver speedy performance with long lasting battery life”. We are expecting to see some of these devices, running an early version of Windows 8.1 RT, at Computex.

CNet news writers think that the next generation of Microsoft Surface RT tablets may be built using the Snapdragon 800 SoC. Microsoft’s statement within Qualcomm’s press release was indeed very enthusiastic, concluding that “Our customers will now have the opportunity to leverage the numerous advantages of these new processors, including integrated 4G/LTE connectivity and outstanding device performance.” The popularity of the LTE wireless integration, offered by the current range of Qualcomm processors, seem to have helped it get design wins over other ARM chip makers.



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Microsoft is hoping that a cut in the price of Windows RT software to hardware vendors will help promote manufacture and growth of the platform. “People with knowledge of the matter” talking to Bloomberg said the price cut would be aimed at “small-sized” Windows RT devices.
Dumb move - if they want RT devices to gain more of a foothold then they need to apply a price cut to the bigger RT systems too.

Like the idea of this Snapdragon chip - presumably the fact that it does so much means that devices that use it have a lower component count, so can go for a lower price.
M$ should give RT away for free…and that would be an Android Killer! :-P
Make Outlook work on it would be a start
Nikumba
Make Outlook work on it would be a start

It seems kinda pointless to by a windows device and not run the ‘normal’ windows stuff on it.

Compared to the other options available, because of my lack of knowledge & experience of devices, it doesnt interest at all.
iamlorro
It seems kinda pointless to by a windows device and not run the ‘normal’ windows stuff on it. Compared to the other options available, because of my lack of knowledge & experience of devices, it doesnt interest at all.
It's a good idea in theory - have a version of windows that can use widely-available ARM-based tech rather than being shackled to x86. And the sales pitch about being able to do that kind of Office stuff “out of the box” is pretty compelling - even against Android and iOS's much larger app choice.

Unfortunately, as Nikumba points out, the actual execution of this was flawed. And MS don't appear to be falling over themselves in any haste to fix it. Although folks I know with RT systems seem to quite like them, especially when they're able to work around the shortcomings. Last person I spoke to was quite enthusiastic - suggesting that if MS can get more apps available then this, (not Android), will be the one to challenge the iPad.

I have my doubts though…