Microsoft’s upcoming tablet, the Surface Pro 4, is reportedly an LTE (long-term evolution)-capable device, which means that it could support cellular data connection.
This would be a first for the Redmondian company for its high-end Surface Pro tablet line although it already had an LTE-capable Surface 2 tablet previously.
While it is mere speculations at this point, Motley Fool says that it is basing its assumption on Intel’s prediction that 15% of PCs will soon be LTE-capable by 2018.
An LTE-capable Surface Pro 4 would also mean a pricier tablet too because new components are necessary to augment the device to have cellular connectivity.
In addition, Microsoft would also need to pay Qualcomm royalty fees because the company would be using Qualcomm modem to have that LTE-capability on its tablet.
These two factors would make the LTE-capable Surface Pro 4 even more expensive than the already premium-priced WiFi-only models, which would be the disadvantage for the company in positioning it against the Apple iPads and Macs or the other big name tablets for that matter.
Because the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 is doing very well in the market, the higher cost of the Surface Pro 4 may not be much of a problem to buyers since the device would feature an LTE-capability.
Will the Surface Pro 4 go all-Intel?
Intel is supplying the processors for the Microsoft Surface Pro tablets ever since it was introduced. Surface Pro 2 and 3 used Intel Broadwell chips while Surface Pro 4 is rumored to be using the Haswell chipset.
There are speculations that if the Surface Pro 4 will have that LTE-capability, Intel might offer Microsoft an even juicier deal to take Qualcomm out of the equation in terms of providing the new platform for the LTE modem requirement of the device.
Intel has been very busy of late with LTE modem design and production. It has, in fact, launched the XMM 7160 sometime last year. The company is said to be working on the launching very soon of XMM 7260 and the XMM 7360 later this year.
With an all-Intel processor and LTE platform, the price of the device may actually come out cheaper than having a Qualcomm LTE modem.
Microsoft could do just that considering that the market for LTE modems is not just being dominated by Qualcomm and Intel right now but other notable players too. This would eventually result to cheaper production cost for the company and cheaper price for the device, compared to the time from 2013 to the middle of 2014 when adapting an LTE-capability on tablets is very expensive.
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An LTE-capable Microsoft Surface Pro 4 could actually set the pace in the PC and convertible device market as each competitor would surely launch LTE-capable versions of their devices lest they be eaten alive by Microsoft.
The end result is significant revenue growth for chip vendors engaged in making devices LTE capable and putting cellular modems into portable Windows systems including tablets and PCs.