Weird as it is to say for a company whose first try at a tablet was a noteworthy flop, the news coming in about Fusion Garage’s Grid 10 10” tablet just keeps getting better and better. Engadget reports that the prices on the tablet have dropped from the previously-announced $499 for 16GB wifi-only and $599 3G price points—roughly equivalent to the iPad’s—to $299 and $399, respectively. A spokesperson for the company told Engadget that it had planned to use those lower prices all along, but hadn’t been able to announce it due to ongoing discussions with a supplier.
This certainly changes things. At $300, the 10” Grid 10 is only going to cost $50 more than the 7” Nook Color, and the price reported for the 7” Amazon Kindle tablet. That could just be a small enough price difference to get consumers on the fence to go ahead and shell out a little more for the bigger Grid, especially if it continues getting the sort of positive review Wired gave it.
And it’s $200 less than the iPad or the Galaxy Tab (or the same price as the Galaxy Tab with a contract, but without needing the contract), which means people looking for a 10” could find the savings quite enticing.
At that price, if Fusion Garage can manage to come out with a device that works and that people actually like, it might just change the whole face of the tablet marketplace.
