Speaking during the company’s latest earnings call, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich reiterated his previous position by promising $99 tablets, $299 Haswell notebooks and $349 hybrids, or 2-in-1s. Since similar statements were made in the past, the attractive price points come as no surprise.
Perhaps the most interesting price announced for Bay Trail tablets. According to ZDnet, Krzanich said there will be eight to ten clamshells available for $299. This sounds like a very competitive price, but of course we would sort of need to know the spec. In any case $299 hybrids sound like a rather good deal, considering that the new Nexus 7 costs $229, not to mention bigger Android tablets and iPads.
However, the trouble with Intel’s promises in recent years is that they have a funny way of not coming true, i.e. $599/$699 Ultrabooks. Krzanich believes OEMs will push the prices down over the next few weeks but we are not convinced.
Most OEMs and ODMs are hurting, their sales have been going down for months and margins are tighter than ever – it’s hard to see how they can be expected to build $299 hybrids and $99 tablets and turn much of a profit.