It is not clear as to what is meant by “reference” – could it be that ASUS will price it the same as Apple’s current iPad, or will they price it lower to undercut Apple, or maybe even higher if they see their products as being vastly superior? ASUS has also reportedly “warned” Microsoft by saying, “if Microsoft launches its Surface at US$199…it will cause difficulty for [the survival of] Asustek’s Windows-based tablet.” We guess that’s also one of the reasons why many of Microsoft’s OEM partners weren’t too thrilled about Microsoft making their own hardware since the prices Microsoft uses could work against their partners.