Pricing?

[ckeegan]

$500 for a shell and for $300 more we actually put something in it.

You do know that the initial promotional price for the Atrix and laptop dock is $500 total, right? Who wouldn't jump on that if they were planning to buy it anyway?

 

[tsanuri]

You do know that the initial promotional price for the Atrix and laptop dock is $500 total, right? Who wouldn't jump on that if they were planning to buy it anyway?

Yes but how many people will not to find out at a later time they might want it. But even $300 for a shell is near highway robery.

 

[dwboston]

You do know that the initial promotional price for the Atrix and laptop dock is $500 total, right? Who wouldn't jump on that if they were planning to buy it anyway?

That's the promotional price, if you sign up for a Data Pro package plus tethering add-on. Hardly a deal, and having to pay extra to tether your phone to a dumb terminal is a joke.

 

[rushmore]

That's the promotional price, if you sign up for a Data Pro package plus tethering add-on. Hardly a deal, and having to pay extra to tether your phone to a dumb terminal is a joke.

Surely folks will not be shallow to the point of not seeing the total cost of the the device. Xoom is a nice device, but best to wait for the price to drop (which it will). No way the device sells well, buying with or without contracts. Perhaps VZW has not noticed how bad the Galaxy Tab is selling and that device costs less. Unless iPad and its HUGE app ecosystem, no way to price tablets high like phones and expect them to sell well.

Added:

Most consumers do not understand the advantages an Android tablet has over iPad, so the increased cost is not appreciated at all. If anything, Android tablets need to be considerably lower cost than iPad to get marketshare. Hard balance to reach.

 

[melantus]

Most consumers do not understand the advantages an Android tablet has over iPad, so the increased cost is not appreciated at all. If anything, Android tablets need to be considerably lower cost than iPad to get marketshare. Hard balance to reach.

Exactly! The iPhone is a perfect example of this "spec" debate. Since inception companies have been trying to best this phone by playing the spec war. Guess what it hasn't worked so far, as stand alone product it's still top seller in it's market. People buy into companies, ease of use, and price. Price shock is what you get with a $800 dollar tablet even if the comperable iPad is only 70 bucks cheaper. The point is since they only offer one kind of Xoom they are only going reach one type of consumer. Those that are looking to buy top the line. Just a guess on my part, but that's probably a very small amount of people. The Tab is another example of extra hardware doesn't mean success, granted it's a 7 inch.

You put this tablet in the samsung tab range @ launch (600-650) you will get people to buy. They will then take the time to notice how much more they are getting vs. a iPad. I hope they put plenty of these things on display at launch for people to play with like they do with iPads. I think that's going be only way they sell a few these things.

A little personal story today:
So I was talking to my mom about the Xoom and the price that was rumored. Just a little back ground my mother is a happy owner of a iPad 32 GB 3G model. Her reaction to that price was very negative. I told her it was only 70 more than what she paid for her tablet, and all the new features the Xoom would have. It fell on deaf ears, and I bet that's going be a lot peoples reaction if this is true.

 

[Woosh]

They have heavy competition not just with the ipad but with the new Honeycomb tablets coming very soon also. The question is though will those be priced outrageously overpriced as well or not? Time will tell on that.

I find it weird they only made one extremely expensive model rather then having a few options for ppl to buy.

I am just hoping the G-Slate and the Toshiba tab are better priced or else I might be forced to get an iPad.

 

[Proph]

alot of what i have found disturbing on message boards is that people don't seem to want to compare the top of the line ipad and its price against the xoom. they pick the cheapest model ($499) and compare that against the top of the line xoom. granted the xoom doesn't have a 16gig wifi only model to compare the low end ipad against but this is not an apples to apples comparison on price.

that best buy ad had all kinds of spelling mistakes as well, so it is either fake or was a pre-run mock up. what would make sense is if it is supposed to say "in order to activate 3G one month of data ....." not wifi.

even so lets say the ipad 2 (based on the WSJ article last night) comes in at $800 for the top end model. the xoom looks like a great deal then, upgradable to 4g soon, better screen resolution, better OS (matter of opinion but the wall-o-icon IOS bothers me), slightly larger screen in similar size.

 

[eibook]

It doesn't seem as if some people understand that Apple is APPLE and can price their iPads at whatever please because they are Apple.

Motorola is not Apple, period! Making the Xoom more expensive than the best iPad is not going to make people say, "Hey this Motorola Tablet is more expensive than the iPad, so it must be better."

Look how well the iPhone is doing on Verizon, it is not the best phone, in terms of hardware, on Verizon Wireless, but it will probably end up being the most popular.
If I follow some of the logic in this thread, the Droid Bionic should be priced at $350, that will make it more expensive than the iPhone, which, in turn, makes it better. That's all well and good if Motorola doesn't want to sell any.

People who want Apple will buy Apple a more expensive Motorola Xoom will not change that.

 

[melantus]

Here's my take on the whole thing. The motorola xoom with a 500-700 price point would still have no chance at beating the iPad. Would it fair better than 800 of course that goes without saying. Motorola xoom competition is not the iPad it's going be other android devices running honeycomb. The kind of consumers apple has for there brand is un-matched and probably will be for a long time to come.

Here and now what Moto needs to focus on is being the best ANDROID tablet on the market. Specs alone are not going to get you there in my opinion.

People who buy android buy because they want control over there OS. They want flash, and they want an open market, and they want a open OS. If motorola wants to win the android consumer over they need to imbrace this idea. Motorola needs to offer bootloader free hardware, allow people to make this tablet the way they want it. If google is about open source then so should there hardware. I beleive most android consumers want pure android, and the ability to make it fit there needs.

 

[knappkd]

People who want Apple will buy Apple a more expensive Motorola Xoom will not change that.

Either will a cheaper one.

 

[eibook]

Either will a cheaper one.

I understand that, I'm just pointing out the fact that just making something more expensive doesn't necessarily make it better.

Also making it cheaper couldn't hurt....

 

[knappkd]

I understand that, I'm just pointing out the fact that just making something more expensive doesn't necessarily make it better.

Also making it cheaper couldn't hurt....

I am just saying if they want an apple nothing will matter. Not cost (higher or lower), nor specs.

 

[tyneusch]

I have been following this thread since yesterday as it has developed and I am seeing a lot of trends towards explaining things as specs and pricing are concerned but I think there is one thing that we are all missing and this is how I look at it.

The iPad runs Apple's iOS. The Xoom is going to be running Honecome (Android 3.0). The Xoom is just ONE of many tabs that will come out this year and have come out running the ANDROID OS. Apple has only ONE tab that runs its proprietary OS. Yes there are MANY versions of this device (16, 32 and 64 GB models in either WiFi or WiFi+3G) which would give Apple what, 6 models of its tablet?

Android's OS has already cracked 6 DIFFERENT tablets from different companies all with different specs. The two major things that set these two OS's appart in my mind are the memory. Apple has a fixed amount of memory in each of its tabs. Android will allow you to have the fixed memory on the tab plus upgrade to as much or as little as you want after that.

The majority of the users of this site like Android for it's ability to customize your device, add memory to it in the form of SD and the openness of the Android OS. Apple gives you very LITTLE customization and no memory add-on what so ever.

My point is simply this: Yes the Xoom is expensive and yes it will come with the newest and most fancy verson of Android BUT there are already MANY versons of the Android tablet out there and coming soon. Android market share in general will be growing by summer and Apple will be right there with it. If you dont like the price point, buy a different Android tab or wait, it's just that simple.

Count me in as one of the Xoom Buyers. The Android OS alone sold this product for me.

 

[eibook]

Count me in as one of the Xoom Buyers. The Android OS alone sold this product for me.

I total understand and respect what you are saying but...
The funny thing about that statement is that The Android OS is free!

And I'm pretty sure everyone in this discussion is not just whining that they cannot afford an $800 Xoom, the way I read it, the point of this thread is that an $800 Xoom will not succeed.

 

[ckeegan]

I total understand and respect what you are saying but...
The funny thing about that statement is that The Android OS is free!

And I'm pretty sure everyone in this discussion is not just whining that they cannot afford an $800 Xoom, the way I read it, the point of this thread is that an $800 Xoom will not succeed.

I don't think anyone here is saying the Xoom won't succeed, they're simply saying it's too expensive for them, or in comparison to the competition.

Maybe BMW should stop making the 7 series? After all, it's not the best-selling sedan in the world, so why even bother?

As for Android being free, it is, to an extent. As a manufacturer, you still have to pay for licensing Android Market, Gmail app, etc. Some manufacturers have chosen not to, in order to save a few bucks, which is ridiculous in my opinion, and I would never buy an Android product from those manufacturers (Notion Ink, Viewsonic, Archos, etc). They essentially figured people would sideload apps or hack the market onto their tablets anyway, so why bother paying the license fee?

 

[tyneusch]

I total understand and respect what you are saying but...
The funny thing about that statement is that The Android OS is free!

And I'm pretty sure everyone in this discussion is not just whining that they cannot afford an $800 Xoom, the way I read it, the point of this thread is that an $800 Xoom will not succeed.

I totally understand where you and everyone else are coming from but I would like to ask one question: Did the Nexus 1 not completely fail as well? It may have been a price issue and it may not have been but the one thing I did take away from that situation is that when it did fail, there were quite a few devices to fill in the small but known void that it left. And Google decided to try again with the Nexus S.

My point being: Yes the Xoom may fail and it may not but you can be sure that even if it does, there are and will be many other Android tabs to fill its place. If consumers are not willing to pay the $880 that Moto and verison are wanting for it, then don't and wait on something cheaper, better or both. I am willing to put my money (Tax Return) on this product because of Android itself and the fact that my OG Moto Droid is STILL going strong.

 

[blozout]

I think the Nielsen Data Found Here disputes your claim that "Poor marketing kills most of the Android OS products."

Talk about painting a vivid picture with a simple graph. At the end of 2010, Blackberry, Android and iOS all took up the exact same amount of the market for mobile operating systems. What

 

[ctxx24]

ppl are pissy because 800 is alot of money...it is a reasonable for the specs...but they needed to make a cheaper one somehow.. i want one but wont throw 800 on a tablet.

 

[dbuss]

Motorola Xoom tablet may not stay at $800 - Los Angeles Gadgets | Examiner.com

 

[railrode1]

I'm still not buying into this Best Buy ad. No one seems to mention that Verizon would have the Xoom for sale, in their stores first.....To me, It's not official until "Verizon" advertises it themselves.. I think these ad "leaks" are induced to get feel for what people are going to pay... $800 is MSRP.. Who buys a car at MSRP?? I believe there is a marketing group at Motorola/Verizon, reading all of the negative response on these online sites and will adjust price. From all i'm reading at $800 it's a "FAIL". That's what i would do. Start a rumor of a high price and lower it to the majority, which would be about $700.. Lets just wait and see....

 

[marctronixx]

ill be sure to reference your post railrode1 once a more official price point has been established... i like your thinking though...

 

[gamul1]

OMG! Check out this article posted today on the proce of the Xoom:
Motorola Xoom up for pre-order at Best Buy this Thursday... for $1,199! -- Engadget#

$1200??? Are they freaking kidding me? Lets hope this is there way of freaking us out so when they really sell it at $800 we're all like "thats more like it."

 

[eibook]

$1199.99...you have got to be f'n kidding?

Motorola, I think you misunderstood the general XOOM pricing consensus, most people thought $799 was too expensive not $400 under priced.

This may just be an attempt to make $799 look like a good deal...either way it is an Epic FAIL. I can see it now, when someone does something stupid, instead of being labeled a FAIL it will now be called a XOOM.

Sanjay Jah it is time to get your head out of your a** or leave. All of that work to make Motorola respectable again is wasted.

 

[gamul1]

For reference:
Motorola Xoom up for pre-order at Best Buy this Thursday... for $1,199! -- Engadget#

And:
Motorola - XOOM Tablet / NVIDIA Tegra Processor / 10.1" Display / 1GB Memory / 32GB Hard Drive - Licorice - 990000745

I'll be shocked if anyone buy it at $1200. I was already rooting for it to fail at $800 so they would drop the price some.

 

[eibook]

For reference:
Motorola Xoom up for pre-order at Best Buy this Thursday... for $1,199! -- Engadget#

And:
Motorola - XOOM Tablet / NVIDIA Tegra Processor / 10.1" Display / 1GB Memory / 32GB Hard Drive - Licorice - 990000745

I'll be shocked if anyone buy it at $1200. I was already rooting for it to fail at $800 so they would drop the price some.

Thanks for the links, I should have added them.