Motorola says Xoom has high Price because it is better than the Apple iPad

Feb 17 2011, 10:27am CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Motorola confirmed now officially the $799 price-tag for the Motorola Xoom tablet. The Xoom comes with 32GB and 3G (free upgrade to 4G), which would make it comparable to the 32GB iPad Wi-Fi + 3G that sells for $729.

Motorola's Sanjay Jha said to the WSJ that the Xoom is more expensive as it delivers 50Mb/s. I assume that is after the 4G upgrade. Nobody knows when that happens and of course it will only benefit users in LTE coverage areas.

I will never understand technology companies that enter a market late and then think to be able to charge more than the market leader for their product. The only way to gain significant market share in market with a clear leader is to at least match the price and offer a better product. To say the product is better and that is why it is more expensive is totally backward in my opinion.

In the case of the Xoom it would have not taken much. Motorola could offer the Xoom for $729 ($70 less) to match the Apple iPad price of the comparable model. Smarter would have been to offer also a 16GB model and match the entry-level pricing. A $800 price is a big commitment to buy something unproven.

Motorola is supposed to release a Wi-Fi only Xoom at around $600, but there is no release date for that.

The WSJ also mentions that a Google music service could be near. Now that their are Android HoneyComb tablets coming that can compete with the iPad, the supporting content eco-system needs to shape up quickly. Without an iTunes competitor the new Android Tablets will have a difficult start.

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Luigi Lugmayr
Luigi is the founding chief Editor of I4U News and brings over 15 years experience in the technology field to the ever evolving and exciting world of gadgets. He started I4U News back in 2000 and evolved it into vibrant technology magazine.
Luigi can be contacted directly at ml@i4u.com. Luigi posts regularly on LuigiMe.com about his experience running I4U.