Microsoft Surface Rumours

There has been a lot of discussion in the blogosphere around the price point for Microsoft’s upcoming tablet, Surface, which was unintentionally(?) leaked last week from an event at $199.

Even for just the cost of parts, which have been estimated at least $226, which excludes marketing, license costs, support etc, Microsoft would be selling at a hefty loss.

However, the alternative explanation to this low price is moving to a subscription based model, similar to a mobile phone contract, where buying the Surface would also include an Office 365 subscription, getting Microsoft’s new cloud products into consumers and businesses hands.

Although there are precedents for a shift to a subscription model from Microsoft, with a similar scheme with Xbox Live Gold and the Zune Pass, it is still unclear whether Microsoft would be willing to take somewhat of a gamble selling their newest piece of hardware at a loss. All eyes will be on Microsoft for the launch of Surface on October 26th, the same day as the release of Windows 8.

UPDATE 08/10/12

Recent statements from Steve Ballmer indicate that the price of the Surface will be between $300-$800. At least that’s all clear then!