The Acer Iconia W3 was announced in early June as the first Windows 8 tablet that was smaller than 10.1 inches. The 8.1-inch device went on sale later that month for the starting price of $379 for the 32GB version. This week, Acer has quietly reduced the price of the Iconia W3 by $80 less than two months after it started taking pre-orders for the tablet.
The Microsoft Store website now shows a $299 price for the 32 GB version, while the 64 GB model has also been reduced by the same amount and is now selling for $349. The same price cuts for the Iconia W3 can be found at Amazon.com and Staples, among other retailers.
Microsoft hyped up the launch of the Acer Iconia W3 when it was first reveals and even gave out free units to the paid attendees of its BUILD 2013 conference in June. Our first impressions of the tablet questioned whether or not it would be a commercial success and now it would appear that Acer is trying to spur demand for the Iconia W3 with a pretty deep price reduction early in its sales cycle.
Recent rumors that Acer was planning to discontinue the Iconia W3 were quickly labeled as false by company reps. Acer has not commented on another rumor that it plans to launch a new version of the tablet later this fall that will be thinner and lighter and come with with an IPS LCD display.
Source: Microsoft Store, Amazon and Staples