There has been a large amount of rumour surrounding UK release details of the ASUS Transformer Prime Android tablet. The tablet is about to hit the US with a release expected next week, with the 32GB offering retailing at $500, keyboard-free. Demand for the tablet has been so great that Amazon has had to cancel any pre-orders made after November 22nd. We do wonder, however, given the delayed UK roll-out, just how many units ASUS has managed to produce.
We knew from the $500 keyboard-free US price tag that this product would not be a cheap one, ASUS itself from day one had made clear that this was to be a premium tablet targeting the high-end market, however all this mental preparation seems to provide little comfort as UK retailer, Clover, claims a confirmed, keyboard inclusive price of £550, £70 above the cost of an equivalent 32GB iPad 2.
On a positive note, given that in the US the keyboard is priced at $150, bringing the total cost up to $650, UK consumers have not been completely taken for a ride with the direct dollar to pound conversions we see all too often in other products. It is worth remembering that the £550 does include a keyboard, which if subtracted brings the base unit itself into the same price bracket as the equivalent iPad 2. For many though, iPads formed the price roof of how much one was typically willing to spend on a tablet, we suspect that until the Transformer Prime drops to the cost of the iPad 2, keyboard included, the price is likely to deter many shoppers, though, if ASUS is indeed running out of stock so quickly in the US, perhaps the firm has been correct in its decision to maintain a premium price and market the tablet as a premium product, much like Apple and its iPad.
It is looking extremely likely that both stock of the tablet and the awaited Android 4.0 ICS update will land in the UK sometime in January. Early reviews in the US of the tablet running Android 3.2 have been extremely positive with the words 'iPad 2 killer' and 'Rival Alert' being flung around. We can't wait to see this tablet running Android 4.0, we suspect when it does finally land, we'll be seeing many more favourable reviews, though with the iPad 3 expected to arrive in stock three months afterwards and with a new Samsung tablet offering likely around the same time-frame, would it be best to wait and see what the market holds?
