Dell Cuts the Price of XPS 10, May Indicate Weak Demand for Windows RT

Dell is moving to aggressively lower the price of its Windows RT based tablet, the Dell XPS 10, possibly creating the defacto-entry point for those interested in purchasing a Windows RT tablet with modest specs.

It seems the company has temporarily marked down the price of the XPS 10 on its website to an entry price of just $299 for the tablet itself, making it more cost effective than even Microsoft’s Surface RT tablet, which begins at $499.

Users looking for a case to go along with the tablet can purchase the company’s XPS 10 + Case bundle for just $30. Those looking to get the closest to a Surface-like experience can purchase the XPS 10 + Dock bundle for $349, which is still $150 less than where Microsoft’s device starts.

Read: Dell XPS 10 and XPS 12 Tablet Hybrids at IFA 2012

Unlike the Surface RT, the XPS 10’s keyboard includes an extra built-in battery. The tablet itself features a 10.1 inch screen with a resolution of 1366 x 768, and comes with 32GB of storage, though users can add more using the device’s built-in microSD card slot or have more added into the device through Dell’s Customize & Buy area.

Users can opt to add compatibility with AT&T’s LTE network for mobile data. The tablet also includes both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Dell’s aggressive markdown of its only Windows RT tablet could signal that the company isn’t seeing much in the way of consumer demand for the tablet. While some vendors like NVIDIA have been forecasting more demand for the operating system and the tablets that it runs on to grow in the future, others haven’t exactly had anything generous to say about Windows RT.

Read: Microsoft Ships 900,000 Surface Tablets, Claims IDC

According to IDC’s market research statistics, tablets running Windows 8 or Windows RT only managed to ship 1.8 million devices in the first quarter of 2013. As Microsoft’s own Surface RT and Surface Pro accounted for 900,000 of them, that can’t exactly be good news for OEMs like Dell, who were counting on Windows based tablets to help combat the Apple’s iPad.

While Windows RT is able to bring the Windows operating system to ARM based processors with longer battery life and smaller form factors, it does so at the cost of not allowing users to install applications into the Desktop. Instead all applications on Windows RT must come from the Windows Store.