Whether the iPad 2, Galaxy Tab 10.1 or any of two dozen Android tablets is to blame in anyone’s guess. What we do know is that the Motorola Xoom is far from the success many had expected. Reports have surfaced this morning showing the Wi-Fi only 32GB model is due for a price cut, down from $599 to $499 in the US. Is a similar cut coming to the UK?
Currently the 32GB Wi-Fi Motorola Xoom is priced at £479.99 ($766 USD) at both PC World and Curry’s — a far cry from the $499 in the US. Though prices differ across the pond, the success of the Asus Eee Pad Transformer and iPad 2 have weighed heavily on the Xoom. In general, Honeycomb tablets have failed to meet sales forecasts.
For the Xoom, the US launch on Verizon Wireless was plagued with mishaps, starting with Flash support. It was not until several weeks post launch that Flash support came to the Xoom, though commercials pegged the feature as a key differentiator from the Apple iPad. Additionally, Motorola confirmed the tablet would need to be mailed in for its free 4G LTE upgrade — nothing short of a major inconvenience.
Though sales have been modest, there is one other possibility for the Xoom price cut. Motorola may be preparing to launch its successor, the Xoom 2. We know the replacement is currently under development (and even got a peak here), but the deciding factor in its release will be nVidia’s quad core Kal-El A9 processor (Tegra 3). Supporting evidence of a new Xoom surfaced this morning when a Motorola tablet received FCC approval, but is this the Xoom 2 or just a 4G LTE Xoom?
