Boston, MA 08/19/2014 (wallstreetpr) – Software developer Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has no alternative but to apply pressures on notebook makers to come up with a cheap laptop to take on Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) powered Chromebook to arrest its share. For this, it had to turn towards Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) to offer windows-based notebook at a much cheaper price than Chromebook.
Pressure On HP
Hewlett-Packard has also been one of the makers of laptops with Chrome operating system. It had priced its Chromebook 14 at $299. Sensing the need to bridge the gap between the tablets and regular notebooks, there are several vendors like HP, Samsung, Lenova, Dell, and Acer that came out with their products in the recent past.
Therefore, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) cannot remain silent and had to fall on its trusted lieutenants like HP to build a similar notebook with various models to take on the Chromebook’s significant progress made during the recent past. HP also appeared to be more than willing to help Microsoft to launch a cheap notebook, engadget.com reported. The starting price of the product would likely be $199.
The features of the leaked data were that it would have AMD A4 Microprocessor with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of flash storage. The screen was expected to be 1,366 x 768, and this was going to be entry level with $199 price tag. The configuration would likely differ depending upon the pricing. The customer will have to pay more for a higher configuration like 64GB space or touchscreen. HP is also reportedly considering option of offering 100GB of cloud storage in OneDrive for two years, which would match the offers of Chrome operating system from other vendors.
Gartner On Chromebook
Recently, research organization Gartner said that Chromebook sales would reach 5.2 million units in the current year, representing 79% uptick over the last year as more vendors would launch Chromebook. At least eight models are expected in the current year 2014. Significantly, the research organization predicts that Chromebook sales would nearly triple to touch 14.4 million units by the end of the year 2017. Therefore, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) had to wake up to the reality and put pressures on vendors with windows-based cheap notebooks
