By Sue Walsh 1

While most eyes were on Apple (APPL) and its long-awaited iPad announcement Oct. 22, Microsoft (MSFT) released the Surface 2 while Nokia (NOK) announced the Lumia 2520, its own Windows 8 tablet which, like the Surface, runs Windows RT, the stripped-down version of Windows 8.1.

Lumia's one advantage over the new Surface is its LTE capabilities, which will be available exclusively on the AT&T network. However, it has an even bigger disadvantage: its price. The Lumia starts at $499—$50 more than the Surface 2. Adding the matching keyboard, which boasts two USB ports and an additional battery, increases the price to $650.

What makes the price even more unpalatable is that Nokia has never dipped its foot in the tablet waters before now, and in early 2014 its devices and services will be acquired by none other than Microsoft. It’s not clear how the two tablets will go from competitors to brand mates or whether Microsoft even knew Nokia was planning to release a competing tablet.

What's more, RT has plummeted in popularity. With the exception of the Surface 2 RT, no other Windows tablets run the OS—all other manufacturers have dropped it in favor of the full Windows 8 experience.

At first glance, the cards seemed to be stacked against Nokia in its first tablet foray. Poor timing, for sure, and poor decisions point to the Lumia most likely not making much of a dent in an already-crowded tablet market.