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Windows 8 seems to be on a speedy road to completion and launch as Microsoft discusses near future plans of cutting in to the iPad’s market share with Windows 8 tablets.

Microsoft Wants To Cut Down iPad’s Market Share to 50% With Cheap Windows 8 Tablets

Microsoft is going all out when it comes to competing with Apple it seems. The Redmond-based IT giant is planning to push a barrage of sub-$300 tablets running on Windows 8 in to the market to take a chunk out of the iPad’s market share. These tablets will run both Windows 8 RT and Windows 8, meaning they will be based on both ARM chips (commonly used in mobile phones and tablets) and x86 chips (every chip that Intel makes).

Given that Intel was recently found to be working with vendors to push out as many as 32 different Windows 8 based tablet models by the end of this year, it is no wonder that Microsoft is planning to flood the market with low-cost tablets. And the partners involved are no small fries either. You have the likes of HP, Dell, Lenovo, Acer, Asus and Toshiba — some of the biggest PC manufacturing companies in the world. All of the above mentioned would likely be working with x86 chips, especially the new Ivy Bridge processors that Intel recently introduced.

Sources told DigiTimes that Lenovo and Acer are particularly interested in hitting the $300 market and take on similarly priced, budget Android tablets. Which is basically another way to say Kindle Fire and B&N Nook Tablet.

Tablets above $300 usually work to compete with the iPad, which starts from $499 for the lowest, WiFi only model. It has proven to be hugely popular with the consumers and currently holds a whopping 70% market share. But Microsoft is planning to capture markets other than mainstream consumers, such as the education and enterprise markets in China. Any such move would help the cause of Windows 8 quite a lot.