WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesús.
Acer has stated that the price of US$449.99 set for its Iconia Tab A500 tablet PCs sold in the US market are still profitable to upstream suppliers as well as downstream distributors as it has set its product prices based on a profit-sharing mechanism.
Acer's statement comes as market reports, citing sources from industry watchers, stated that Acer's pricing for the Iconia tablets will undermine the pricing structure for tablets and also its own profitability.
In comparison, Motorola Mobility's Xoom tablets are available starting from US$599, while LG Electronics' G-Slate models are priced at US$750, as indicated in a recent Wall Street Journal report.
Acer has launched two tablets – the Android-based Iconia Tab A500 outsourced to Compal Electronics and Windows 7-based Iconia W500 outsourced to Pegatron. But Acer has focused its marketing on the Iconia Tab A500.
Acer will ship over 300,000 tablet PCs in May, according to an estimate by industry sources. However, Acer may delay its launch of 7-inch Iconia Tab A100 tablets to August-September instead of May-June as originally planned.
