HTC may ship just 1m Flyer tablets by August with $600 price
updated 01:05 pm EST, Mon March 7, 2011
HTC leaks show just 1m Flyers, 600 price tag
HTC may have set modest expectations for the Flyer tablet based on claims on Monday from a Taiwanese newspaper. The Commercial Times said the seven-inch tablet's orders between now and August would reach just one million, suggesting only about 167,000 Flyers shipping per month if it were to launch immediately. It wasn't clear which countries would get the Flyer first, but it's rumored the US may get it as the Evo View through Sprint.
Pricing may be a fatal setback, Digitimes added. The device is believed to cost as much as $600 off-contract despite the smaller screen size. HTC has never officially confirmed the pricing of the Flyer and usually leaves it up to individual carriers or stores.
If true, the price could become a major obstacle for the Flyer. At $600, it would cost only slightly less than a 3G iPad 2 with a larger screen, faster performance and 16GB of storage. HTC has mostly been counting on its Sense UI and support for pen input as central features; time forced it to use Android 2.2 instead of the tablet-native 3.0.
Samsung faced a similar problem with the original Galaxy Tab, where the smaller screen didn't prevent it from also charging $600 and leading many in some countries to stay away in favor of an iPad.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Oct 2004
smaller screen is preferred, larger price is not
I absolutely don't associate the size of the screen with the price of the device.
After all even an iPhone is more expensive (off contract) than the iPad.
But what I don't appreciate is the $600 price and having to buy it through sprint.
No way, forget it, not interested.
I do prefer a pad that is small enough to read like a paperback - not textbook size.
But - thats the only thing they did thats of interest.