Microsoft has joined hands with its channel partner – Makro in South Africa, to introduce two new low-cost tablets.
The Nextbook range consists of a R1499 8-inch slate and a R2999 10.1-inch tablet (with hard cover keyboard), were launched last week.
“These tablets are among the first Windows Reference Design devices that will be available in South Africa,” Microsoft confirmed in a press statement, adding that they would be available from this November.
“We are pleased to be partnering with Makro to put affordable, yet top quality devices in the hands of local consumers,” said Melanie Botha, Consumer Channels Group Executive at Microsoft South Africa.
The Nextbooks run the full Windows 8.1 operating system, with Microsoft also throwing in a year’s free subscription to Office 365.
“The affordable pricepoints of the Nextbook devices make tablets much more accessible to a larger section of South African consumers,” said Kevin Maier, Merchandise Manager from Makro South Africa.
“The 8-inch model will appeal to customers who want to hold their device in one hand whilst consuming media on-the-go, whilst the 10.1-inch tablet will find a home with road warriors that want to stay productive wherever they find themselves at a limited budget, without being limited in functionality,” Maier added.
Anthony Doherty, Windows Business Group Lead at Microsoft South Africa explained: “In addition to introducing freemium models of Windows to smaller sized devices (9-inches and below) to make them more affordable, other steps have been taken to ensure Microsoft has created a competitive ecosystem.”
“We have included different manufacturers and altered a few engineering standards such as allowing OEMs to do their own internal verification, re-engineering Windows to be able to run on smaller hard-drives, while specifying an SD card slot to enable users of these devices to increase storage as needed,” he concluded.
