Microsoft to kill Chromebooks with $149 Windows 10 laptops

According to a new report from Digitimes Research, Microsoft is planning to kill Google Chromebooks with sub-$150 laptops powered by Windows 10. The report states that Microsoft is targeting the consumer and education market, just like Google Chromebooks.  Furthermore, the report reveals that the company is planning to release notebooks priced at $149-$179.

The $179 notebook will reportedly come with a  Intel’s Bay Trail-T CR processors:

“Both notebooks adopt Intel’s Bay Trail-T CR (BTCR) processors, while the one for educational purposes will be manufactured with Elitegroup Computer Systems’ (ECS) help and will be sold mainly through the education channel that Intel and ECS built for their Classmate PC products. The end price for the product is estimated to be US$179.”

Digitimes also states that the $149 notebooks will come with Rockchip’s processors which will likely save hardware costs. Interstingly enough, the company is reportedly planning to target 15.6-inch Chromebooks alongside the 11.6-inch Chromebooks as well.

This is indeed a very interesting move by the company as Chromebooks are seemingly becoming more popular for its cheap price. On the software side, however, Chrome OS isn’t just a web browser anymore – last year at Google I/O, the company showed off Android apps running on Chrome OS. Microsoft is taking Chromebook as a “major threat” which makes sense as most consumers are likely to purchase Windows devices priced between $200-$500.

As Digitimes stated, these cheap notebooks running on Windows 10 are planned to be revealed in mid-2015. For now, tell us what you think about the upcoming notebooks in the comment section below.

Source: Digitimes – Image Credit: The Verge