Microsoft, Amazon Offer One-Day Deals on Mini Tablets

By the time you read this, Microsoft’s (MSFT) super-duper $99 deal on Dell’s Venue 8 Pro Tablet—one-third of the $299 list price—likely is gone, gone, gone.

That’s because the vendor is offering the Dell promotion only today (Monday, Dec. 9) at its retail stores and online site and only to the first 20 in-person buyers at each store or the first 100 online orders. That’s it—then the price rises to $199 until supplies run out—and some stores may only have 10 units available even at the higher price.

Microsoft isn’t alone in the limited sale game for mini tablets. Amazon’s (AMZN) Gold Box Deal of the Day to knock 20 percent off the price of the Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire HDX is only good through today as well, applying to the 16GB models of the Kindle Fire HD 7-inch, Kindle Fire HDX 7-inch and the Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch units.

The Amazon deal doesn’t match Microsoft’s offer, either in percentage discount or absolute dollars, but together the promotions give a pretty good idea of the price-slashing that’s likely on tap for the remaining shopping days of this holiday season.

The Dell Venue 8 tablet promotion is part of Microsoft’s new “12 days of Deals,” campaign that starts today and runs through Friday, Dec. 20, with a new, limited deal promised for each day. The offers are confined to Microsoft retail and online stores in the United States and only the vendor’s physical locations in Canada, and purchases are limited to one tablet per customer.

Dell is still selling the unit at its online site for the $299 list price.

For sure with the eye-opening $99 price for the Dell Venue 8 Pro, Microsoft wants to see how fast it can shake loose customers on the fence this holiday season about buying a tablet. But equally as important is whether Microsoft can sway any buyers away from Apple’s (AAPL) iPad Mini.

While the Dell mini tablet sports 2GB of RAM, 32 GB of storage and a Micro USB port; runs up to 10 hours between charges; and has Microsoft’s Office Home & Student 2013 baked in, its screen resolution is no match for Apple’s Retina display. It’s no secret that splashy stuff sells better for the holidays.

It will be interesting to see which products Microsoft elects to promote next and throughout the remaining 11 days of the campaign. For example, on its shopping website, the vendor lists its own Surface tablets along with tablets and convertibles from ASUS, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Dell, Lenovo, Samsung and Sony, ranging in price from $399 for the ASUS Transformer Book to the Sony VAIO Duo at $1,899.99.