Sony
Rating among the most unique tablets we’ve seen, Sony’s Tablet S and Tablet P present completely different takes of what a slate can be.
The folded page design makes the Tablet S automatically different, with home entertainment connectivity for both DLNA and remote control use, it’s also perfect for home theatres.
Meanwhile, the Tablet P is so compact, it folds up like a Nintendo DS, offering two touch screens in a small format.
But both of these tablets originally came with larger than life price tags, fetching $499 for the Tablet S and $729 for the Tablet P earlier this year.
Now that the iPad 2 has come down in price with the release of the new iPad, here’s what Sony had to say:
“We have no information to provide at this time.”
Whether that means Sony is thinking of something, we can’t be sure, but given how much the competition is heating up, we can’t see how it can be avoided. Rumours are currently suggesting a Tablet S successor will arrive soon, likely with Nvidia’s Tegra 3 processor powering it.
Asus
The Asus Transformer series of tablets was one of the most promising takes on the format, and we loved the recently released Transformer Prime so much, it almost managed a perfect score in our review.
But Asus also has its older Transformer TF101 and EeePad Slider in the market, and with a new iPad model, we’re anticipating some urgent price drops.
Asus told us that:
“The RRPs issued by ASUS remain as follows:
- Transformer Prime 32GB: $799
- Transformer Prime 64GB: $899
- Slider 16GB: $649
- Slider 32GB: $749
- Transformer 16GB stand alone: $599
- Transformer 32GB bundle with keyboard: $799
Pricing may vary depending on the retailer.”
While we find it odd that Asus won’t be shifting its older product pricing given the new iPad pricing, our own research found that some stores seemed willing to drop prices considerably, with the keyboard-less Transformer TF101 16GB WiFi found for $388 on street price in Australia, well below the recommended retail price of $599.
Motorola
One of the first companies out with an iPad competitor in 2011, Motorola has only recently updated the Xoom with a slightly revamped version. While we’ve yet to review this newly announced model, the upgrades seem minor and we doubt there’d be much to compete against in Apple’s new iPad.
As such, we’d really expect Motorola to have some sense and shed some dollars, but were told this:
“Motorola do not comment on competitor pricing strategies.”
Here’s hoping that Motorola considers a price drop urgently, because with the new Xoom 2 fetching $720 for 3G and 32GB, and Apple’s new iPad only $69 more than this, Motorola will be hard pressed to find consumers preferring a barely updated model to Apple’s new juggernaut.
