Best Buy ad confirms Xoom's $800 price, February 24 date
Worries that the Motorola Xoom might cost $800 may have been validated with the spotting of a Best Buy flyer. Its promo device shows the Android 3.0 tablet at the suspected price and shipping on the suspected February 24. Extra details spotted by Engadget also showed that 3G pricing would be the same as for the Galaxy Tab, starting at $20 for 1GB of data on Verizon and scaling through the carrier's usual $50 5GB plan and up to its $80 10GB option.
In a potential controversy, the ad hints that customers may need to pay for a minimum of one month's worth of data to "activate WiFi functionality," which could raise the real price of the Xoom to $820.
A custom folio case for the Xoom was shown and should cost $40.
The pricing if final could set a significant barrier for Motorola. At $800, the tablet has over 32GB of storage and more features than the current iPad but will also cost $70 more than than an equivalent 3G version of Apple's tablet. Without any less expensive models, the Xoom will also cost at least $170 more than the cheapest 3G iPad and $300 more than a Wi-Fi only iPad.
Motorola has said it will have a Wi-Fi only Xoom over the course of its launch, but whether it ships soon after launch and how much it will cost are still to be determined.
Apple isn't expected to stay still and should have a much improved iPad of its own with cameras and a possible dual-core processor. The company has regularly said it prices the iPad "aggressively" and isn't expected to raise prices even as it upgrades features.
In a potential controversy, the ad hints that customers may need to pay for a minimum of one month's worth of data to "activate WiFi functionality," which could raise the real price of the Xoom to $820.
A custom folio case for the Xoom was shown and should cost $40.
The pricing if final could set a significant barrier for Motorola. At $800, the tablet has over 32GB of storage and more features than the current iPad but will also cost $70 more than than an equivalent 3G version of Apple's tablet. Without any less expensive models, the Xoom will also cost at least $170 more than the cheapest 3G iPad and $300 more than a Wi-Fi only iPad.
Motorola has said it will have a Wi-Fi only Xoom over the course of its launch, but whether it ships soon after launch and how much it will cost are still to be determined.
Apple isn't expected to stay still and should have a much improved iPad of its own with cameras and a possible dual-core processor. The company has regularly said it prices the iPad "aggressively" and isn't expected to raise prices even as it upgrades features.
No comments