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AT&T CMO David Christopher talks Android, Atrix pricing

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/02...pher-talks-android/?section=magazines_fortune
Author thinks that "[atrix price] seems very agressive". WTF is he smoking?

I wouldn't call it aggressive but I'd call it competitive, given the larger market. They could have asked $299 instead of $199 and they'd have gotten it.
Consider the GalaxyS phones which were still $199 a month ago, and the Atrix is supposed to be more phone (i.e. fingerprint security and a working GPS<G>). Sure, today there are retailers selling the GalaxyS unlocked and off contract for $199 and the cellcos are asking anywhere from a penny to $49...But that's the nature of smoke and mirrors.
I expect, or at least hope, the resellers will be asking $149 to beat AT&T's $199. Not aggressive, but not as piggypiggy as they normally are, either. For an AT&T employee, anything less than "Your firstborn and your wallet" is probably a radical concept.
Remember, they're still trying to convince us that phones which wholesale for $100-200 really cost them $600. (Don't you love the new math?!)

Author thinks that "[atrix price] seems very agressive". WTF is he smoking?[/QUOTE]
He is smoking the highest quality crack rolled up in our hundred dollar bills. "Aggressive"? Yes it's aggressive towards our wallets. If att doesn't straighten out their billing philosophies they will be losing customers like mad. I really hope verizon puts out some cheap unlimited plan and they steal as many iphone users as possible.

I still don't understand the "aggressiveness" over the pricing. $200 is reasonable - it is what I had paid for iPhones every year in the past, and I believe At&t is pricing the Atrix similarly because it is a direct competitor for the iPhone 4.
As far as the laptop dock pricing goes, who cares? The laptop dock is essentially a useless bell/whistle. How many of you own laptops? (most of you probably do) Your laptop is much more powerful than this webtop os. Motorola is just showing what the phone can do. It's an uneccesary extra, especially since the laptop dock requires the tethering plan... when you can just tether to your actual laptop.
Nerds are all up in arms because it's going to cost $500 to showcase their coolness with the latest and greatest piece of redundant technology.
I'm ok with the phone pricing and can't wait for it to come out. I gladly sold and shipped out my iPhone 4 for this beauty. March 6th can't come soon enough.

acPIZZA said:
I still don't understand the "aggressiveness" over the pricing. $200 is reasonable - it is what I had paid for iPhones every year in the past, and I believe At&t is pricing the Atrix similarly because it is a direct competitor for the iPhone 4.
As far as the laptop dock pricing goes, who cares? The laptop dock is essentially a useless bell/whistle. How many of you own laptops? (most of you probably do) Your laptop is much more powerful than this webtop os. Motorola is just showing what the phone can do. It's an uneccesary extra, especially since the laptop dock requires the tethering plan... when you can just tether to your actual laptop.
Nerds are all up in arms because it's going to cost $500 to showcase their coolness with the latest and greatest piece of redundant technology.
I'm ok with the phone pricing and can't wait for it to come out. I gladly sold and shipped out my iPhone 4 for this beauty. March 6th can't come soon enough.
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-_-
Paint with a narrower brush next time. I don't think anyone scrolling through XDA has any ground to call someone a nerd in a derogatory way.

irishtexmex said:
-_-
Paint with a narrower brush next time. I don't think anyone scrolling through XDA has any ground to call someone a nerd in a derogatory way.
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I apologize if it sounded derogatory. I'm a nerd myself - and a huge one at that.
My implications were, that the dock is essentially nothing more than a keyboard and screen, and it seems silly to piss and moan over a $500 price point. Is it overpriced - Yes. Does the tethering plan tack-on make sense - eh, maybe. Do we need this accessory for any reason other than to show it off (assuming you own a laptop/netbook) - absolutely not. To me it seems more like a no-brainer, and if it evokes any response/thought it is that I am almost glad it's $500 - at least I wont be tempted in the store when I go to pick up the Atrix.

acPIZZA said:
I apologize if it sounded derogatory. I'm a nerd myself - and a huge one at that.
My implications were, that the dock is essentially nothing more than a keyboard and screen, and it seems silly to piss and moan over a $500 price point. Is it overpriced - Yes. Does the tethering plan tack-on make sense - eh, maybe. Do we need this accessory for any reason other than to show it off (assuming you own a laptop/netbook) - absolutely not. To me it seems more like a no-brainer, and if it evokes any response/thought it is that I am almost glad it's $500 - at least I wont be tempted in the store when I go to pick up the Atrix.
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I agree. The only thing I might buy is the multimedia dock with keyboard/mouse, that way i can use it to mess around with what (hopefully) can be a full linux distribution on a phone and make it a second comp of sorts that I can have at my desk.

acPIZZA said:
I apologize if it sounded derogatory. I'm a nerd myself - and a huge one at that.
My implications were, that the dock is essentially nothing more than a keyboard and screen, and it seems silly to piss and moan over a $500 price point. Is it overpriced - Yes. Does the tethering plan tack-on make sense - eh, maybe. Do we need this accessory for any reason other than to show it off (assuming you own a laptop/netbook) - absolutely not. To me it seems more like a no-brainer, and if it evokes any response/thought it is that I am almost glad it's $500 - at least I wont be tempted in the store when I go to pick up the Atrix.
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That's what all the pissing and moaning is about though--that just a screen and a keyboard costs $500. However, being quick to dismiss it and its potential use is what I was referring to when I made the "painting with a broad brush" remark. So, apologies for coming off snarky. I don't mean to bring about any conflict here.
However, I ask you what kind of laptop do you have, and what are its primary uses? I have an HP HDX16 which is a 16" 16:9 laptop workhorse that is a nice do-everything machine when it comes to gaming, media, and graphic design. However, one thing it is not great for is internet surfing. My battery lasts 2 hours tops, it's a larger sized laptop, and while I don't consider it heavy, it is certainly much heavier than the Atrix's lapdock. Maybe you need to carry such a machine with you everywhere you go, but I have a ****ton of textbooks I need to carry in my backpack and the only thing I need to use my laptop for on campus is to surf the web and write notes in a word processor. The Atrix nails that, and makes me salivate at the thought of not having to take a charger with me/8 hours of battery life.
I'm just saying that there's more practical uses for it than just surfin' the internet while you poop.

No, it isn't aggressive. I think 200 should be the limit for subsidized phones; hell it costs around that fir them to buy it anyway (from China or wherever it is made).
If it were really aggressive, the laptop dock wouldn't be more than 150 since it is just a screen and a battery; keyboard.
They also wouldn't charge for tethering. That would actually make it a real threat to other phones.
With the pricing now, I can only see business people and maybe small enterprise or serious bloggers picking this up.
Captivate 2.2.1 Paragon

150?
Some of you guys are kidding yourselves regarding the dock. 150 makes little sense. First you have a dock so lets say $60 then a keyboard say $40. Then a HD led screen $150-200 on its own easy. Yes the dock is to expensive, but I would say that it should cost between 200-300 regular. Maybe if ATT was being generous they would make a bundle with the dock costing 150 and the phone 150 with the purchase of the tethering plan. Thats just my .02.

agreed with acPIZZA. I've had a netbook for about a year now. It's nothing special but gets 7-9 hour battery life and allows me to do basic computing tasks on it. Getting the laptop dock would be redundant.

ram8704 said:
Some of you guys are kidding yourselves regarding the dock. 150 makes little sense. First you have a dock so lets say $60 then a keyboard say $40. Then a HD led screen $150-200 on its own easy. Yes the dock is to expensive, but I would say that it should cost between 200-300 regular. Maybe if ATT was being generous they would make a bundle with the dock costing 150 and the phone 150 with the purchase of the tethering plan. Thats just my .02.
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Your pricing is so out of wack I dont' even know where to start.
The laptop dock probably costs them $100 to manufacture. I've put projects like this together, so I'm pretty confident in this cost structure from a CM perspective. This is just them gouging the early adopters. It will probably come down to 2-300 pretty fast, and probably under 200 toward the end.

Squeak22 said:
Your pricing is so out of wack I dont' even know where to start.
The laptop dock probably costs them $100 to manufacture. I've put projects like this together, so I'm pretty confident in this cost structure from a CM perspective. This is just them gouging the early adopters. It will probably come down to 2-300 pretty fast, and probably under 200 toward the end.
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How much does a good laptop battery go for nowadays?
Ultimately, they're here to make money. Of course it's going to be "high" compared to their production price. =/

Milkshakes00 said:
How much does a good laptop battery go for nowadays?
Ultimately, they're here to make money. Of course it's going to be "high" compared to their production price. =/
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I never said it wouldn't be. My point was that the previous poster was putting together consumer products and making an incorrect assumption.

The phone is priced at a steal, the accessories not so much. If you're looking for just the phone this is a great deal.

As if the Echo is not enough...

... Sprint is supporting the Playbook but not the Xoom? Wow! The Playbook to tablet is what the Echo is to smartphones... utter crap!
Sprint, if it wasn't for the EVO, you guys would not be around. Let's just hope they can redeem themselves this summer. I, for one, wont' hold my breath.

There's a HP event tomorrow. Hopefully we get to see some Web OS tablets for Sprint

Good Luck paying $800 for the Xoom AND $35 to Activate it on Verizon's Network (IF you want WiFi to work you have to Activate it which costs $35 AND get a monthly plan (lowest is 1gb for $20)). Yes, you have I think 3 days to cancel that monthly plan (and still use the WiFi). Bottom line, to use the Xoom you will be paying roughly:
$800 (Price of Device)
$35 (Activation Fee)
$20 (1st Month's Data Service, which can be canceled)
$80 - Tax
Total - $935 out of the door (This is the price of a MacBook Air). I have an Acer laptop that was $500 and it's way more powerful than the Xoom. Really dumb decision
Since CES I was really looking forward to the Xoom. They should have come out with a 16gb WiFi only version for $499. Now you are tied to Verizon (who will Anally Rape you and Nickel/Dime you to death). The Playbook seems like a very good alternative. My wife had a Palm Ore and WebOS is an awesome OS (better than Android and iOS). If they implement it right, the Playbook could be a huge success. There is also the LG Slate Tablet OR you can purchase a Nook Color for ($250) and root it to get Honeycomb (which is what I may end up doing if the Playbook is crappy). The Xoom is doomed to fail before it hits store shelves with that price and being tied to Verizon. Supposedly LTE will be added later (some have speculated for a fee, knowing Verizon this does not surprise me one bit). You CANNOT enter the tablet market with a device that is more expensive (by $300) than the iPad, especially when the iPad 2 is around the corner. We may get specs on the iPad 2 in a couple of weeks and that may also be the path I follow. Really wanted the Xoom, but Motorola really Effed that up.

I find the $800 (or ~$935) to be truly comical. Who would buy these things besides the most die hard, obstinate anti-Apple fan? What a shame for Android - this surely doesn't help it compete with Apple in the tablet market. :/

ghodzilla5150 said:
Good Luck paying $800 for the Xoom AND $35 to Activate it on Verizon's Network (IF you want WiFi to work you have to Activate it which costs $35 AND get a monthly plan (lowest is 1gb for $20)). Yes, you have I think 3 days to cancel that monthly plan (and still use the WiFi). Bottom line, to use the Xoom you will be paying roughly:
$800 (Price of Device)
$35 (Activation Fee)
$20 (1st Month's Data Service, which can be canceled)
$80 - Tax
Total - $935 out of the door (This is the price of a MacBook Air). I have an Acer laptop that was $500 and it's way more powerful than the Xoom. Really dumb decision
Since CES I was really looking forward to the Xoom. They should have come out with a 16gb WiFi only version for $499. Now you are tied to Verizon (who will Anally Rape you and Nickel/Dime you to death). The Playbook seems like a very good alternative. My wife had a Palm Ore and WebOS is an awesome OS (better than Android and iOS). If they implement it right, the Playbook could be a huge success. There is also the LG Slate Tablet OR you can purchase a Nook Color for ($250) and root it to get Honeycomb (which is what I may end up doing if the Playbook is crappy). The Xoom is doomed to fail before it hits store shelves with that price and being tied to Verizon. Supposedly LTE will be added later (some have speculated for a fee, knowing Verizon this does not surprise me one bit). You CANNOT enter the tablet market with a device that is more expensive (by $300) than the iPad, especially when the iPad 2 is around the corner. We may get specs on the iPad 2 in a couple of weeks and that may also be the path I follow. Really wanted the Xoom, but Motorola really Effed that up.
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That pathetic price point makes me ecstatic I got my archos 70 in December. Of course better is around the corner, but for what I want/need out of a tablet, it's perfect.

Excuse me but I believe that I have accidentally slipped into an alternate reality.
See, where I come from, a company named Apple produces nice quality products but restricts user control over the customization of these products. Apple then charges an absurd premium for these devices and enjoy quite a cult following among millions of users.
Other companies compete with Apple by producing cheaper products and allowing more user control over the device. Some of these companies actually started using an operating system by the name of Android. This OS is opensource and therefor free to download and customize. This contributes to these companies being capable of producing quality products and selling them for far less than comparable Apple products.
Now I'm sure that you understand my dilemma. I would really like to get back to my home dimension where this is still the case.
Would any of you kind citizens please point me in the right direction to get me back to reality?

TheMatrixx said:
I find the $800 (or ~$935) to be truly comical. Who would buy these things besides the most die hard, obstinate anti-Apple fan? What a shame for Android - this surely doesn't help it compete with Apple in the tablet market. :/
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Why is that? The device can be upgraded to 48+GB with SD card, which puts it on part with Apple's iPad for those storage capacities.
Hang on, so you need to pay a monthly fee even for just Wifi? That doesn't make sense. I doubt that's the case.

akarol said:
Why is that? The device can be upgraded to 48+GB with SD card, which puts it on part with Apple's iPad for those storage capacities.
Hang on, so you need to pay a monthly fee even for just Wifi? That doesn't make sense. I doubt that's the case.
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You need service if you wanna buy one.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/06/verizon-locking-wifi-on-motorola-xoom-until-you-buy-one-month-of/

akarol said:
Why is that? The device can be upgraded to 48+GB with SD card, which puts it on part with Apple's iPad for those storage capacities.
Hang on, so you need to pay a monthly fee even for just Wifi? That doesn't make sense. I doubt that's the case.
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I guess you have NOT been keeping up with what's going on then. You HAVE to purchase one month's of data service to UNLOCK WiFi (this is a slap in the face, you have to pay to use something that's already on the tablet OR it becomes a $935 paperweight). Enjoy grabbing your ankles with NO Lube.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/06/verizon-locking-wifi-on-motorola-xoom-until-you-buy-one-month-of/

akarol said:
... Sprint is supporting the Playbook but not the Xoom? Wow! The Playbook to tablet is what the Echo is to smartphones... utter crap!
Sprint, if it wasn't for the EVO, you guys would not be around. Let's just hope they can redeem themselves this summer. I, for one, wont' hold my breath.
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The playbook is utter crap? You should cancel your plan now.

ghodzilla5150 said:
I guess you have NOT been keeping up with what's going on then. You HAVE to purchase one month's of data service to UNLOCK WiFi (this is a slap in the face, you have to pay to use something that's already on the tablet OR it becomes a $935 paperweight). Enjoy grabbing your ankles with NO Lube.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/06/verizon-locking-wifi-on-motorola-xoom-until-you-buy-one-month-of/
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That is pretty ridiculous. Doesn't make sense. I won't consider it until they skip this non-sense. I'm sure they'll get a lot of backlashing for this and will have to sell Wifi-unlocked Xooms soon. Hopefully by my birthday at the end of April.

p0rkguy said:
The playbook is utter crap? You should cancel your plan now.
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Yes, utter crap! Look at the hands on videos. Just like any RIM device, this new, unreleased 'gem' is already obsolete.

xoom only COSTS Best Buy $550!! WTF.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/0...ps-to-1199-99-but-it-costs-best-buy-just-550/
So this makes me think that the price will be significantly lower than $1200 or $800. If not at Best Buy, someone else who can deal with less than 40% margins will sell this thing in the $6-700 range.
F*** Best Buy and their either 45% or even more obscene 118% markups.

CNET fed Motorolas ego tremendously when they gave the Xoom best of CES award...

legato89 said:
CNET fed Motorolas ego tremendously when they gave the Xoom best of CES award...
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+1 Clearly it did...
They think they can place apple price point/margin(actually even more than apple!) without any track record to proove it... Its ridicules... They clearly want to gouge the first adopters, and a month later i can guarentee they will drop the price by 200$ (especially when ipad 2 is unveiled...)
Its a sad day that im considering and ipad 2 over xoom/other android 3.0 cause of PRICE.

$1,999 is a placeholder price.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/13/motorola-xoom-up-for-pre-order-at-best-buy-for-1-199/
Engadget said:
Update: We've heard rumblings that this is indeed just a place holder -- much like the way other companies price products they don't want to sell at ridiculous levels -- and the final price will indeed be the $800 we've heard most consistently to this point.
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Also, it isn't as if the Xoom will be the only quality Honeycomb device out there. If it cost too much for your taste, wait until cheaper 3.0 tablets arrive. Looking at the trend so far most Honeycomb tablets have almost the exact same specifications anyways.

Botero said:
http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/0...ps-to-1199-99-but-it-costs-best-buy-just-550/
So this makes me think that the price will be significantly lower than $1200 or $800. If not at Best Buy, someone else who can deal with less than 40% margins will sell this thing in the $6-700 range.
F*** Best Buy and their either 45% or even more obscene 118% markups.
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That's crazy. When I worked at Best Buy a few years back, I found little (if any) markup on almost all laptops. Apparently they've decided that the Xoom is a different story.
I'd like to think that purchasing at a Verizon store will be a different story, but I'm sure there are all kinds of deals in place to keep prices uniform across the industry. It would probably be cheaper getting one shipped from Europe.
Oh well. I'm thinking the Galaxy 10.1 looks better than the Xoom anyway, so maybe I'll stick around to see how it turns out.

Xevilious said:
That's crazy. When I worked at Best Buy a few years back, I found little (if any) markup on almost all laptops. Apparently they've decided that the Xoom is a different story.
I'd like to think that purchasing at a Verizon store will be a different story, but I'm sure there are all kinds of deals in place to keep prices uniform across the industry. It would probably be cheaper getting one shipped from Europe.
Oh well. I'm thinking the Galaxy 10.1 looks better than the Xoom anyway, so maybe I'll stick around to see how it turns out.
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The Galaxy 10.1 doesn't seem to come with a Sd card slot or even Hdmi port...yikes !

Arun01 said:
The Galaxy 10.1 doesn't seem to come with a Sd card slot or even Hdmi port...yikes !
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I hear ya there, SD card slot is a must in my mind for a tablet.
Love the design of the Tab 10.1 though, the backing looks so ergonomic.

If the xoom is locked down to modding like most other motorola stuff, the sd card won't be that big of a draw.
The markup is nuts, hence why I think you may be able to talk bestbuy into doing it out the door for 800, with the mobile service (that you can cancel).
Sent from my EVO using XDA App

Didn't motorola state the SD slot on the Xoom wont work until they patch it at a later date? or am i thinking of another CES tab?

Arun01 said:
The Galaxy 10.1 doesn't seem to come with a Sd card slot or even Hdmi port...yikes !
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Oh... I didn't realize that. Lame. It's a shame, because the device has a nice look to it.

Xevilious said:
That's crazy. When I worked at Best Buy a few years back, I found little (if any) markup on almost all laptops. Apparently they've decided that the Xoom is a different story.
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BB is probably trying to make some margin on the first few suckers (oops, customers). Expect a big price drop in a few months like the Galaxy tab.

jerrykur said:
BB is probably trying to make some margin on the first few suckers (oops, customers). Expect a big price drop in a few months like the Galaxy tab.
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You do realize a tablet like this would be price controlled by Verizon correct? Verizon controls prices of phones, just like ATT, Sprint, and Apple do.
@Xevilious : little margin is still made on laptops

Yeah god forbid companies try and make a profit on the products they make or sell

Old MuckenMire said:
Yeah god forbid companies try and make a profit on the products they make or sell
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Sirchuk said:
If the xoom is locked down to modding like most other motorola stuff, the sd card won't be that big of a draw.
The markup is nuts, hence why I think you may be able to talk bestbuy into doing it out the door for 800, with the mobile service (that you can cancel).
Sent from my EVO using XDA App
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Since when did Best Buy negotiate prices on a product like this?
Old MuckenMire said:
Yeah god forbid companies try and make a profit on the products they make or sell
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I am all for companies making money. But I must say, knowing that the device cost BB 550$.. I am no longer okay with Verizon forcing me to buy unwanted 3g for a month cranking up the already high price an unnecessary, and frankly incredibly expensive 1GB of data.

setite said:
Since when did Best Buy negotiate prices on a product like this?
I am all for companies making money. But I must say, knowing that the device cost BB 550$.. I am no longer okay with Verizon forcing me to buy unwanted 3g for a month cranking up the already high price an unnecessary, and frankly incredibly expensive 1GB of data.
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well you have to take into consideration that BB is probably not going to make a killing on this product. If they were confident that they would sell a lot of Xooms, the price would be less. They would be able to make up for it in volume.
I agree about the mandatory Verizon data but from my understanding you have three days to cancel it and get your money back for that. I myself am going to keep the months worth of data...I've always been with AT&T and am curious about Verizon's service in my area.

setite said:
Since when did Best Buy negotiate prices on a product like this?
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You might be surprised what they will do if there is still profit to be made. You can negotiate on just about all big ticket items, especially at the end of the quarter when they want to increase revenue numbers. Never hurts to ask for something like 5 or 10 percent off. Worked for me on a digital camera I wanted and a stove. They took another $200 off my stove, even beat the internet prices I found.
Sent from my EVO using XDA App

Old MuckenMire said:
well you have to take into consideration that BB is probably not going to make a killing on this product. If they were confident that they would sell a lot of Xooms, the price would be less. They would be able to make up for it in volume.
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As I said earlier pricing is controlled by Verizon
And that employee cost that you see, is not always the price that Best Buy pays for an item. Tablets that require internet activation are in an entire different realm of pricing structures (especially since this is a Verizon tablet).
Sirchuk said:
You might be surprised what they will do if there is still profit to be made. You can negotiate on just about all big ticket items, especially at the end of the quarter when they want to increase revenue numbers. Never hurts to ask for something like 5 or 10 percent off. Worked for me on a digital camera I wanted and a stove. They took another $200 off my stove, even beat the internet prices I found.
Sent from my EVO using XDA App
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Only way money is coming off the xoom is price matching verizon, which is going to be selling it at the same price

deadpixell said:
As I said earlier pricing is controlled by Verizon
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trust me, BB gives it's opinion to Verizon on what it wants to sell any given item for in their store and Verizon takes that opinion into account when pricing. BB doesn't have to carry any given device.... and Verizon or any other carrier has to work with them on price(as well as many other aspects) if Verizon wants that device in store. You can be sure Verizon's pricing would be different if they anticipated BB would sell tons more of them than they will currently.
All I am saying is this: if this tab was going to sell like the iPad, the price would be less. Verizon nor BB have the luxury of making their profit thru volume with this device.

Old MuckenMire said:
trust me, BB gives it's opinion to Verizon on what it wants to sell any given item for in their store and Verizon takes that opinion into account when pricing. BB doesn't have to carry any given device.... and Verizon or any other carrier has to work with them on price(as well as many other aspects) if Verizon wants that device in store. You can be sure Verizon's pricing would be different if they anticipated BB would sell tons more of them than they will currently.
All I am saying is this: if this tab was going to sell like the iPad, the price would be less. Verizon nor BB have the luxury of making their profit thru volume with this device.
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I know Best buy gives its opinion, but at the end of the day, its out of my hand. There are certain things like I said, that are price controlled regardless of how much Best Buy buys the item from. I'm sure Verizon also wants best buy to sell tons of xooms. During this past holiday I saw more people sold on buying tablets than laptops, sure the initial price is high, relative to what you get, but I'm sure it will come down.
And for what its worth, even though people here are complaining about the high price, this device will be extremely popular.
That being said if I see anything more in best buys system I'll try and post/make note of it

Sam's Club prepping Wi-Fi only Xoom models, listed for $539

Source:
http://www.androidcentral.com/sams-club-apparently-prepping-wifi-only-version-xoom-homeycomb
No, your eyes do not deceive you. What you see here supposedly is a display at a Sam's Club trainer store (a faux store where they show real stores how it's done) with a Wifi-only Motorola Xoom. At least, that's what the display says. No telling when it might actually be coming, and considering the price tag shows it running Android 2.0 "Homeycomb" -- there's a Photoshop contest waiting to happen -- well, we'll just have to see, won't we.
As for the $539 price? We'd still like to see a sub-$500 listing, but it's certainly a little more in the ballpark.
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Lol if true. You know if this is the true price some motorola exec sat back and said:
Hey, the iPad costs 500 and the hdmi dongle is 39. Let's charge 539 for the xoom.
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muyoso said:
Lol if true. You know if this is the true price some motorola exec sat back and said:
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Lol that would be awesome. Makes sense though. Whenever you buy an Apple product you gotta factor in the cost of the proprietary peripherals.

Since it would be $539 for the 32GB version, I'd say it's pretty good. I mean, certainly, even the average consumer can look at $499 for the 16GB iPad 2, $599 for the 32GB iPad 2, and $539 for the 32GB Xoom, and tell that the Xoom is the better deal, right?
Right? Come on, help restore my faith in the intelligence of the general population.

wynand32 said:
Since it would be $539 for the 32GB version, I'd say it's pretty good. I mean, certainly, even the average consumer can look at $499 for the 16GB iPad 2, $599 for the 32GB iPad 2, and $539 for the 32GB Xoom, and tell that the Xoom is the better deal, right?
Right? Come on, help restore my faith in the intelligence of the general population.
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Yes, that is very true, ONLY if the consumer cares about storage. Many iPad users (no knock on them, but 95% are just average consumers) don't look at storage, JUST price. And because of that many will choose iPad at $499.
Now $539 is just a stone's throw away from $499 so they're effectively the same price, and you can justify the difference even not looking at storage just by using the device or liking what it offers.

martonikaj said:
Yes, that is very true, ONLY if the consumer cares about storage. Many iPad users (no knock on them, but 95% are just average consumers) don't look at storage, JUST price. And because of that many will choose iPad at $499.
Now $539 is just a stone's throw away from $499 so they're effectively the same price, and you can justify the difference even not looking at storage just by using the device or liking what it offers.
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Click to collapse
Yes, and I would agree that a $100 difference would make a someone think twice even about twice the storage, but not $40. Throw in the fact that storage can be expanded on the Xoom (I'm sure SD card support will be enabled by then), and assuming that Motorola actively markets that fact, then I think only the most ignorant person would choose the iPad 2 based at all on price.
Other factors, maybe and certainly in many cases. But not price.

I don't see "32GB" in any of the photos, I only see Android 2.0 Homeycomb. How did you know that's $539 is for the 32GB model?

wynand32 said:
Yes, and I would agree that a $100 difference would make a someone think twice even about twice the storage, but not $40. Throw in the fact that storage can be expanded on the Xoom (I'm sure SD card support will be enabled by then), and assuming that Motorola actively markets that fact, then I think only the most ignorant person would choose the iPad 2 based at all on price.
Other factors, maybe and certainly in many cases. But not price.
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Click to collapse
You are half right, most people will see $4xx and $5xx unless they are a bit tech savvy to check the specs or do a double take on the prices vs features. This $4.99 vs $5.00 marketing stratagy has been nightmare for your average consumer for at least 20 years. It is all in what people think they see and to most people the $40 difference (due to the overlap in hundreds) will appear at first glance to be a $100 difference.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App

muyoso said:
Lol if true. You know if this is the true price some motorola exec sat back and said
Hey, the iPad costs 500 and the hdmi dongle is 39. Let's charge 539 for the xoom.:
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Hahahahah good one. If this add is true and for 32Gb, sign me in...

tsekh501 said:
I don't see "32GB" in any of the photos, I only see Android 2.0 Homeycomb. How did you know that's $539 is for the 32GB model?
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Click to collapse
It's an assumption based on the fact that the only versions that Motorola has discussed so far are the 32GB wifi-only version and the 32GB 3G/4G version. That, and Sam's Club will never sell for more than the MSRP, and I can't imagine Motorola would set an MSRP for a 16GB version, if it exists, at more than the iPad 2 since everything else is pretty much the same.
So, if Sam's Club is selling it for $539, then I'm assuming it's a 32GB version that has an MSRP of $599. That just fits Sam's Club pricing, pretty much.

SirGatez said:
You are half right, most people will see $4xx and $5xx unless they are a bit tech savvy to check the specs or do a double take on the prices vs features. This $4.99 vs $5.00 marketing stratagy has been nightmare for your average consumer for at least 20 years. It is all in what people think they see and to most people the $40 difference (due to the overlap in hundreds) will appear at first glance to be a $100 difference.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
I'm just not sure. I mean, as long as Moto markets the heck out of the "twice the storage" part, then I think they'd be fine. But yeah, we'll see.

Called my sams club. said they don't have it.
WHen will this go on sale? pretty soon if they already have the price on the floor.

Germwise said:
Called my sams club. said they don't have it.
WHen will this go on sale? pretty soon if they already have the price on the floor.
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Click to collapse
I think there's a bit of confusion here... As I understand it, this is a shot from a central "showcase" location that Sam's Club uses to stage products that are coming at some point in the future. So, the wifi-only version hasn't been released yet, and I'm guessing it won't be until April. My understanding (can't find the link) is that Verizon has a 60-day exclusive on the Xoom.

wynand32 said:
I think there's a bit of confusion here... As I understand it, this is a shot from a central "showcase" location that Sam's Club uses to stage products that are coming at some point in the future. So, the wifi-only version hasn't been released yet, and I'm guessing it won't be until April. My understanding (can't find the link) is that Verizon has a 60-day exclusive on the Xoom.
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Click to collapse
Yes this is correct. No actual Sam's Club locations are actually advertising this in stores and have stock.
Not sure about the Verizon exclusivity lasting 60 days. I don't think we'll be waiting a full 60 days (aka March 24th) to see the WiFi only model. I'm pretty sure Verizon did pull some kinda deal and Motorola played ball with them, but 60 days is just killing them if they wait that long. I don't think they can afford to wait that long and I'd be surprised if these kinda promotional materials would be coming out 50+ days early. We see these things a couple weeks before it comes out.
Whether Verizon is holding them back or not, we know the WiFi version (and GSM version) both exist and there is no manufacturing or physical reason why they wouldn't (swap radios, gg), and as soon as they can sell these things, they will. I just wish Motorola would grow a pair and not bend over for Verizon, or any other carrier for that matter.

Xoom 3G/4G is in trouble

There are a few reasons that the Xoom 3G/4G is in trouble.
1. Sam's Club is rumored to be selling the price of the wi-fi only for $539
2. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is thinking of cutting its price when it debut (it may or may not have a better display than the Xoom)
So who would be willing to put out $800 to buy it now...even if you know about the $100 off promo code from Motorola.

id like to point out that some people WANT the data connection. they don't just want wifi.
secondly, its all about the instant gratification.

Because Motorola wouldnt drop the price when it actually releases the wifi-only version right?
Seriously guys, Motorola got it's flagship Xoom to market as quickly as it could with the price it wanted to sell to early adopters at. They aren't going to drop MSRP just because of competitor announcements, internet rumors, internet forum crybabies, or fuzzy pictures of fake displays in a random Sam's Club location.

No offense but I am a little tired of forum thread after forum thread about this. Most phones off contract now a days cost between 550-600 dollars. So why the hell wouldn't a tablet with 3G, WiFi, and a free upgrade to 4G be anything less than what it cost. If you don't want to pay 800 off contract then luckily you have options. 599 on contract which I woldnt do but that's just me, or wait for the price to come down or the WiFi one to come out. I cannot believe how many people are *****ing about the price. It is the worlds first Android 3.0 tablet and for as far back as I can remember you pay a heftyprice if you want to be an early adopter. I bought the 800 Xoom and I am happy with my purchse especially when I will get LTE on it. I see know need it buying a gimped tablet with only WiFi as I need my mobile devices to be well mobile.
All this *****ing over 150-200 dollars is rediculous. All I hear about the Xoom is the price and the endless comparison to the lowest priced Ipad. They are not even in the same ballpark. If you spend 499 you get a wifi only, 16 gb, 512 ram, not as good cameras front and back and most of all it is apple and their walled garden. Why do people keep comparing these? You need to compae with at least similarly speced items like the 32 gb with 3G.
If people don't want to buy the 800 Xoom, then so be it but lets stop *****ing about it it gets us no where. It is worth everypennyof 800 for what you get ans it is only going to get better and lower priced as more tablets hit the market. Either way the Xoom will catch on and no it isn't in trouble because of the ipad and samsung rethnking the pricing if you read the entire article you would see that they had planned to charge more than the galaxy tab which would of more than likely been 800 or more as I believe the galaxy tab was 699 at launch. No one is forcing youto buy a Xoom so stop with the price comparisons ans if you want one then for gods sake stop *****ing about 150-200 more when you are already dropping 599 for the thing. Look at what you get for that extra 200. More ram, more internal space, expandable memory (when. It launches), 3G upgradeable to 4G, a btter screen, android 3.0, a better camera front and back, better hardware (in my opinion), the wonderful devs here on xda will have this thing do everything thanks to be unlockable (thanks moto), and best of all we aren't stuck dealing with apple. On another note it still has better specs than any tablet that is going to launch that has been announced. So please stop whining.

angermeans said:
No offense but I am a little tired of forum thread after forum thread about this. Most phones off contract now a days cost between 550-600 dollars. So why the hell wouldn't a tablet with 3G, WiFi, and a free upgrade to 4G be anything less than what it cost. If you don't want to pay 800 off contract then luckily you have options. 599 on contract which I woldnt do but that's just me, or wait for the price to come down or the WiFi one to come out. I cannot believe how many people are *****ing about the price. It is the worlds first Android 3.0 tablet and for as far back as I can remember you pay a heftyprice if you want to be an early adopter. I bought the 800 Xoom and I am happy with my purchse especially when I will get LTE on it. I see know need it buying a gimped tablet with only WiFi as I need my mobile devices to be well mobile.
All this *****ing over 150-200 dollars is rediculous. All I hear about the Xoom is the price and the endless comparison to the lowest priced Ipad. They are not even in the same ballpark. If you spend 499 you get a wifi only, 16 gb, 512 ram, not as good cameras front and back and most of all it is apple and their walled garden. Why do people keep comparing these? You need to compae with at least similarly speced items like the 32 gb with 3G.
If people don't want to buy the 800 Xoom, then so be it but lets stop *****ing about it it gets us no where. It is worth everypennyof 800 for what you get ans it is only going to get better and lower priced as more tablets hit the market. Either way the Xoom will catch on and no it isn't in trouble because of the ipad and samsung rethnking the pricing if you read the entire article you would see that they had planned to charge more than the galaxy tab which would of more than likely been 800 or more as I believe the galaxy tab was 699 at launch. No one is forcing youto buy a Xoom so stop with the price comparisons ans if you want one then for gods sake stop *****ing about 150-200 more when you are already dropping 599 for the thing. Look at what you get for that extra 200. More ram, more internal space, expandable memory (when. It launches), 3G upgradeable to 4G, a btter screen, android 3.0, a better camera front and back, better hardware (in my opinion), the wonderful devs here on xda will have this thing do everything thanks to be unlockable (thanks moto), and best of all we aren't stuck dealing with apple. On another note it still has better specs than any tablet that is going to launch that has been announced. So please stop whining.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This was awesome.

angermeans said:
No offense but I am a little tired of forum thread after forum thread about this. Most phones off contract now a days cost between 550-600 dollars. So why the hell wouldn't a tablet with 3G, WiFi, and a free upgrade to 4G be anything less than what it cost. If you don't want to pay 800 off contract then luckily you have options. 599 on contract which I woldnt do but that's just me, or wait for the price to come down or the WiFi one to come out. I cannot believe how many people are *****ing about the price. It is the worlds first Android 3.0 tablet and for as far back as I can remember you pay a heftyprice if you want to be an early adopter. I bought the 800 Xoom and I am happy with my purchse especially when I will get LTE on it. I see know need it buying a gimped tablet with only WiFi as I need my mobile devices to be well mobile.
All this *****ing over 150-200 dollars is rediculous. All I hear about the Xoom is the price and the endless comparison to the lowest priced Ipad. They are not even in the same ballpark. If you spend 499 you get a wifi only, 16 gb, 512 ram, not as good cameras front and back and most of all it is apple and their walled garden. Why do people keep comparing these? You need to compae with at least similarly speced items like the 32 gb with 3G.
If people don't want to buy the 800 Xoom, then so be it but lets stop *****ing about it it gets us no where. It is worth everypennyof 800 for what you get ans it is only going to get better and lower priced as more tablets hit the market. Either way the Xoom will catch on and no it isn't in trouble because of the ipad and samsung rethnking the pricing if you read the entire article you would see that they had planned to charge more than the galaxy tab which would of more than likely been 800 or more as I believe the galaxy tab was 699 at launch. No one is forcing youto buy a Xoom so stop with the price comparisons ans if you want one then for gods sake stop *****ing about 150-200 more when you are already dropping 599 for the thing. Look at what you get for that extra 200. More ram, more internal space, expandable memory (when. It launches), 3G upgradeable to 4G, a btter screen, android 3.0, a better camera front and back, better hardware (in my opinion), the wonderful devs here on xda will have this thing do everything thanks to be unlockable (thanks moto), and best of all we aren't stuck dealing with apple. On another note it still has better specs than any tablet that is going to launch that has been announced. So please stop whining.
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Click to collapse
Wow do I agree with you so much. $800 is justified. Motorola only has one price point which competes with Apple's equivalent. I wish people would stop complaining about the price.

Amen, brother.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App

It's mainly about options bro, with the xoom there's only one; very expensive one.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA App

calin75 said:
It's mainly about options bro, with the xoom there's only one; very expensive one.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA App
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Click to collapse
There are several options "bro", the problem is that too many here choose the one involving complaining incessantly on the internet.

calin75 said:
It's mainly about options bro, with the xoom there's only one; very expensive one.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA App
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Click to collapse
This is where I think everyone has the wrong mentality.
With the iPad and iPad2 ONLY APPLE manufactures and sells this product. The options are limited by them.
With ANY android tablet the options are not just "1 xoom". The options are:
Archos 101 Internet Tablet
Motorola Xoom
Galaxy Tab
etc..
the list goes on... so you see... you are NOT stuck with one option unless you continue to limit yourself to one manufacturer.
iOS: Only 1 device can run it
Android: Completely open - anyone is welcome to make a device for it.
It means more competition, more product diversity and more choices for us.

It may be true that $800 is comparable to the high end ipad. However, we are talking about the general population and take into account their spending potential. Not everyone has the money to spend $800 on a tablet.
So if they see a bargain, they will go to it. Again, we are talking about the general population as a whole. Not someone who can easily afford the $800 tablet and can take the time to rationale the justifiable price point.
Just take a look at the ipad versions. Which of the 6 versions do you think sell the most?

Dawg, the only option we have right now with the xoom is whether to buy it full price or get $200 off and get raped by Verizon for 2 years. Why is Apple releasing all models at and carriers at the same time? the xoom is the first HC tablet in the market and not to offer a WiFi model from the beginning is nothing more than pure blasphemy.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA App

Why would Motorola undercut it's own flagship product's sales by releasing a cheaper limited version when it doesnt have to? Why squander the lead the Xoom has on Samsung, HTC, RIM, HP, etc?
Something tells me the VZW-Motorola Xoom contract has a part to play in this as well. It's squarely in VZW's interest to have exclusivity on the only android 3.0 tablet on the market for as long as possible, a wifi-only version cuts into their market saturation directly.

angermeans said:
Most phones off contract now a days cost between 550-600 dollars. So why the hell wouldn't a tablet with 3G, WiFi, and a free upgrade to 4G be anything less than what it cost.
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Click to collapse
so you're really ok with a phone being $550-$600?? what the pricing tells me is that the phones are far overpriced.

mazz0310 said:
Wow do I agree with you so much. $800 is justified. Motorola only has one price point which competes with Apple's equivalent. I wish people would stop complaining about the price.
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Click to collapse
By the time I left the Verizon store the day after launch I was out over $1,000. For the Xoom, the gel case, charging stand, keyboard, etc... The Xoom has barely left my side in the last week and is in constant use (just like my gtab and q1 ultra before it). Since I use it for work, I will easily extract $200 of value from it every month this year. The Xoom is awesome and will only get better. Great value in my opinion.

Earthbrain said:
It may be true that $800 is comparable to the high end ipad. However, we are talking about the general population and take into account their spending potential. Not everyone has the money to spend $800 on a tablet.
So if they see a bargain, they will go to it. Again, we are talking about the general population as a whole. Not someone who can easily afford the $800 tablet and can take the time to rationale the justifiable price point.
Just take a look at the ipad versions. Which of the 6 versions do you think sell the most?
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Click to collapse
Your right in a way but we are not talking about the "general public" here. We are talking about the hundreds of posts like this one that complain incently that the Xoom is overpriced as all they look at is the 499 ipad that is inferior to the Xoom in every way. Who cares if the Xoom won't sell as many as the ipad it is targeted to an audience that wants something different. All it needs to do is compete not sell 15 million like the ipad. I am talking about people that write posts like this and just ***** about the price. They'll pay 500 no problem but will ***** and moan about 150-200 more dollars even tho they are getting many many many more features. If you don't want the Xoom than get the Ipad we don't need assumptions like the OP made saying that the Xoom will fail because they failed to meet a certain price point. Not to mention that the Xoom is the first and o can guarentee that we will see a price drop and a wifi only version but they dont want to wait for that they want to ***** and bring up the ipad.
By the way this is in no way targete at you as I partly agree with your posts I am just sick of these posts " the Xoom will fail as it is not as cheap as the. Wifi only 16gb Ipad. They are in no way the same product so lets move on. This is a site of early adopters that pay good hard earned money and get the most out of their products. We are in every way the opposite of what apple and its iphone and ipad stand for so why are we *****ing about wanting that price point. We are the same people that gladly dropped 529 for the google nexus one without even using the product and was happy to do so and most have probably had multiple phones over this past year. Lets all grow up and get over what motorola and verizon feel this Xoom is worth. Get it or don't but shut up in the process.

You guys are silly. What reason could you have for defending the high price other than feeling dumb for spending too much or having moto sign your paycheck.
I bought a xoom too. At least I know it was too much.
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

I totally agree with you great investment in my opinion

madsquabbles said:
so you're really ok with a phone being $550-$600?? what the pricing tells me is that the phones are far overpriced.
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I agree they def are but the more features we get the more these phones will cost. You cant tell me you didn't know that is what they cost and I don't see anyone saying "but apple is cheaper" because they are 650 and 750 off contract for their iPhones. The point is phones are overpriced but you can see why tablets cost this much when compared to phones.

angermeans said:
Your right in a way but we are not talking about the "general public" here. We are talking about the hundreds of posts like this one that complain incently that the Xoom is overpriced as all they look at is the 499 ipad that is inferior to the Xoom in every way. Who cares if the Xoom won't sell as many as the ipad it is targeted to an audience that wants something different. All it needs to do is compete not sell 15 million like the ipad. I am talking about people that write posts like this and just ***** about the price. They'll pay 500 no problem but will ***** and moan about 150-200 more dollars even tho they are getting many many many more features. If you don't want the Xoom than get the Ipad we don't need assumptions like the OP made saying that the Xoom will fail because they failed to meet a certain price point. Not to mention that the Xoom is the first and o can guarentee that we will see a price drop and a wifi only version but they dont want to wait for that they want to ***** and bring up the ipad.
By the way this is in no way targete at you as I partly agree with your posts I am just sick of these posts " the Xoom will fail as it is not as cheap as the. Wifi only 16gb Ipad. They are in no way the same product so lets move on. This is a site of early adopters that pay good hard earned money and get the most out of their products. We are in every way the opposite of what apple and its iphone and ipad stand for so why are we *****ing about wanting that price point. We are the same people that gladly dropped 529 for the google nexus one without even using the product and was happy to do so and most have probably had multiple phones over this past year. Lets all grow up and get over what motorola and verizon feel this Xoom is worth. Get it or don't but shut up in the process.
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Click to collapse
First, from the title, it does not that the Xoom 3G/4G "will fail." It says that it is in trouble....meaning that it will not sale as many as it had anticipated. If the rumor of the Sam's price and the possible lowered price of the Samsung tab did not exist, then the number of the 3G/4G would probably be bigger.
Also, I did not whine about the $800 being expensive on its own. It is being expensive "relative" to the alternatives. Do you think that if the Sam's club rumor was true of being $539....do you think that just having 3G/4G itself is worth $800-$539 = $261? Do you think that the 10.1 Samsung tab with almost identical specs with its lower price point (if true) would not sway others from getting the Samsung instead?
Of course you could argue that you pay a higher price for being an early adopter...which I agree is true. However, some would have the patience to wait it out. But the bottom line is that the 3G/4G is now "in trouble" because it would change some consumers' mind and would affect its sale number.