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Acer to launch a $99 Android tablet in early 2013

by Mark Tyson on 24 December 2012, 11:00

Tags: Acer (TPE:2353), Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Windows 8

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qabqqv

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Acer is aiming to produce a 7-inch Android tablet at the magical $99 price point, reports the Wall Street Journal. The Acer Iconia B1 tablet will be the first big-brand tablet to go shoulder-to-shoulder with the Chinese white-box tablet makers in this sub-$100 market. The WSJ suggests that the Iconia B1 is aimed at emerging markets and may not be released into the USA and Europe.

Specs for the Iconia B1 are rather ho-hum, very similar to the Amazon Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble Nook Colour. I’ve put all the specs I could find, from various sources, into the table below:

Name

Acer Iconia B1

Price

$99

Screen size

7-inches diagonal

Screen resolution

1024x600 (170ppi)

Processor

1.2GHz dual-core

Connectivity

Wi-Fi and Cellular

Operating System

Android Jelly Bean 4.1

 

Pictures of the Acer Iconia B1 leaked onto a Serbian computer forum about a week ago and the WSJ has said today “they were confirmed as authentic by a person familiar with the project”.

Plans for the Acer Iconia B1 were started in autumn in response to the competition at the cheaper end of the Android tablet market. Though this Iconia B1 is a 7-incher, the Acer insider talking to the WSJ said that “In the past few months, we’ve made project roadmap changes in response to big changes in the tablet market.” They continued to explain “The launch of the Nexus 10 (made by Google Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. with a US$399 starting price) has changed the outlook for what makes competitive pricing.”

Intel based Windows 8 tablets at a low price

Another Acer insider “with direct knowledge of Acer’s tablet products” revealed to the WSJ that Acer “is also planning to launch a low-priced version of its Intel-based Windows 8 tablets early next year, as its current ones are ‘too pricey’”. We have seen so many very high prices attached to news and press releases about Intel/Windows 8 tablets and convertibles. It’s good to see a big PC maker wanting to aim at lower prices to gain sales, Acer could do well here. I think we now have enough expensive Ultrabooks to choose from but not enough cheap touch screen Windows 8 tablets and convertibles available.



HEXUS Forums :: 8 Comments

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This looks great, might finally buy a tablet!
sounds too good to be true. I wish them luck nonetheless.
its about time. we need someone to knock down these dam over priced ipads.
Wicked. Once one major brand sells a cheap as chips tablet the others will likely follow suit, fearing to otherwise loose market share.

Let the all out price war commence! :clapping:
No chance that Apple will care about cheap Android tablets, they'll just push even more how superior their platform is…though I have noticed many more people not after iPads this year but going for Nexus 7's