Windows 8 tablets to be much cheaper with ARM chips, Lenovo exec claims

ARM-based Windows 8 tablets will be as much as £191 cheaper than their Intel-based counterparts, the manufacturer Lenovo has said.

Lenovo's North American chief David Schmoock told Bloomberg on Thursday that devices running Windows RT would be between $200-$300 (£127-£191) less expensive than those running the more traditional version of Windows 8. He said Windows RT computers would have "very aggressive price points" to make them attractive to consumers.

Schmoock suggested that Intel-based Windows 8 tablets would be priced at around $600-$700, which could put the cheapest Windows RT tablets at around $300 — $100 more expensive than Google's entry-level Nexus 7 Android tablet, but the same amount cheaper than Apple's lowest-specced iPad.

The Lenovo executive also said that Intel's Ultrabook drive was not paying off as well as the chipmaker intended. Schmoock said the thin laptops were likely to get a 20-25 percent share of the consumer notebook market by the end of the year, rather than Intel's projection of 40 percent.

The Chinese manufacturer is primed to become the PC market leader, and it will also be one of the first to put out Windows RT devices, reportedly including a convertible tablet.