Would you buy a $1,600 Android tablet that doesn't have any special features compared to other slates half its price? A relatively unknown Chinese manufacturer seems to think people would, and released a tablet called the RedPad — a Honeycomb device specifically meant for China's government officials, that costs almost two grand.
The 9.7" RedPad is a pretty standard Android tablet fare, with 1GB of RAM, and 16GB of storage, which is usually the lowest capacity found in mid-range slates. For $2,000, you'd think buyers will get a top-of-the-line device or at least a few extras. But the only bonus they will get is a rather shoddy looking leather case, and an inscription of China's "Serve the People" slogan at the back of the tablet. The total cost for manufacturing each device is $480, so why it's priced at $1,600 is beyond us. An interview with the company spokesperson, Xianri Liu, reveals RedPad's somewhat twisted reasoning for that price point: the company believes people think expensive things are good. Therefore, RedPad must be good.
He also argues that RedPad comes with a bunch of apps including tablet versions of periodicals, and a state-sanctioned Chinese version of Twitter. Installing those kinds of apps on the iPad, he says, will cost as much as $1,600 in a year. A device of that price point targeted toward politicians will almost certainly cause a stir not only within China, but all over the internet.
Liu says the company plans to release RedPad to market, and compete with Apple's iPad — a feat that will be extremely hard to accomplish when the tablet costs that much.
[via Penn Olson, The Verge]
This article was written by Mariella Moon and originally appeared on Tecca
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