Acer Chief reiterates negative impact of Surface, notes Microsoft working on reducing problems for OEMs

After saying that Microsoft should ‘think twice’ before launching its own Surface tablet for Windows 8, Acer Chairman JT Wang has elaborated on the negative impacts of Windows 8. While doing so he also notes that Microsoft has not intention of shelving the Surface, however it is working on ways to reduce the negative impact for Windows OEMs reports The Digitimes.
He states that Microsoft may may not launch the Surface at ultra-low price points of $199 like the Google Nexus 7, but would launch it at price points closer to $499. He also said that the intention of his original warning was not benefit Acer only, but rather the whole PC ecosystem, that could get unsettled by Microsoft entering the hardware business.
Unlike JT Wang, Lenovo’s Dilip Bhatia recently was not overly perturbed about Microsoft’s dive into the hardware business, and felt confident that Lenovo’s incoming Windows 8 tablet offerings will be able to differentiate from the Surface.
Wang’s comment seems like a turnaround as from the outset the both the Windows RT and the Windows 8 Surface tablets seem like premium tablets and not low cost ones, so the price point of $199 seems quite far fetched. Considering, Microsoft makes Windows, so it is conceivable to for it to get a price advantage, as it may wave off the price of the OS to get an price advantage, but even if that were true, still the Surface tablet would be a pricey proposition and not a low cost solution as indicated by Mr Wang.