Robert Pogson

“Whether the potential low cost tablets will indeed become a major hit remains to be seen, as much of their quality and specs will likely be affected by the costs of the materials used. Nonetheless, should PC branded manufacturers release tablets that cost less than $150 USD, this will certainly put a lot pressure on China’s white-box tablets makers, and in turn intensify the pricing competition within the 2013 tablet market.”
see TrendForce：Component Replacements to Potentially Give Rise to Lower-than-$150 USD Tablet PCs|TrendForce – Press Center – English Version.

This is what healthy competition looks like, folks. The small guys are selling enough smartphones and tablets that the big guys are being squeezed. As usual, the consumer will benefit by being able to buy pretty good IT at very reasonable prices. It’s a good thing M$ gets no share of these gadgets. The price would have to rise ~25% to support M$ in the manner to which it has become accustomed. There’s no way OEMs can afford the burden of M$ these days.