Microsoft Surface Price Could Drop 38% in Two Months
Dealnews has a bold prediction: The Microsoft Surface Tablet could repeat a scenario seen with the Blackberry Playbook.
Due to the high inventory an sales results that are rumored to be below expectations, the website believes that Microsoft could be forced to discount the tablet in a similar as Research in Motion discounted its Playbook. The site wrote that Microsoft is showing no signs of discounts at this time, but states that
"true bargain hunters may want to hold off a little longer, as just five months after the Playbook's debut, the 16GB Playbook dropped 38% in price. Even the higher 32GB model dropped an impressive 33% in price during the same timeframe. And the deals only got better from that point forward. In fact, in an effort to move inventory, some retailers, like Office Depot, began discounting the Playbook and bundling it with $100 gift cards. Again, this was just five months into the tablet's lifespan, which means we could see hefty discounts on the Surface RT as early as March 2013."
Dealnews noted that Microsoft would be "wise to discount its entry-level Surface RT tablet", such suggests that "holding off till the Pro's debut before making any purchasing decisions" is a good idea. Impatient shoppers should wait until the Surface RT gets better distribution, which seems to be happening soon, as Microsoft announced that Surface RT will be available at Staples and BestBuy.

The Playbook had no change from the start. At least Microsoft has the power of tens of millions of devices with Windows 8 on them, all using the same app store, to help force interest from developers.
They don't. The loss is an investment towards culminating a better ecosystem for RT (more users, incentive for developers to produce apps, etc.), and setting a higher bar for partners to follow with their hardware design. Either way, the loss is something MSFT's war chest can absorb.
Microsoft must pay for trying to force it on their users
I cannot imagine any serious business user using win8.
I believe the stores would be the ones taking losses primarily; Microsoft's losses would come from inventory they already built that stores didn't buy at the original price, and refuse to buy without incentives. The discounts on the playbook were from over-production, once they hit those levels of discount they were essentially just trying to get rid of the ones they had, and weren't mass producing anymore.
And atm, there is a big demand for these touch devices, at least from other vendors, so now that they are selling in stores, their true value will become known.
Supporting Microsoft on this one. They had to play the hardware angle and the CNET user reviews for this device are stellar. The media is on a witchhunt to keep MS down.