14 DAY TRIAL // This might not exactly apply to all slates, especially the big ones (10.1 inches), but at least one type of tablets are going through a more or less general price overhaul.
Back when the Kindle Fire was released by Amazon, some were quick to speculate that it would lead to a sort of general price reduction for tablets.
Meanwhile, others weren't as optimistic. After all, that could easily have been just wishful thinking in a market where such electronics just weren't all that cheap.
People seem to have caught on to how it doesn't really make much sense for a media slate to cost so much more than a netbook.
For instance, a quite powerful entry-level laptop, Acer Aspire on 722, just showed up for sale, armed with a dual-core chip, at $298 (223 Euro).
Compared to the $500 or $599 (and often just as many Euro) that tablets demand, that is a sharp contrast.
Unfortunately, 10.1-inch tablets haven't been showing much sign of cheapening.
They still sell for $500-$600 (479-550 Euro or thereabouts in Europe, since exchange rates aren't actually reflected much).
Still, 7-inch models, at least, are following the leader, or what will soon be the leader.
Despite what Apple and other might say, there was at least one study that showed Amazon's Kindle Fire as more popular than the iPad (more people wanted to buy the former than the latter). Also, patent trolls are after it for a reason.
This also implies that the Fire won't have much competition, regardless of how many other 7-inch slates exist, as long as their prices aren't on the same level.
As such, as summed up by reports coming in, RIM (on Best Buy) posted the 16GB PlayBook for $199 (148.80 Euro) instead of the initial $499 (373 Euro),
HTC's Flyer also went to $299 (223.58 Euro) while the Lenovo A1 and ViewSonic ViewBook 730 are at $199 and $169 (126.37 Euro), respectively.