Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Friday, 29 February 2008 22:01
Opinion and Analysis
Page 2 of 3
According to the Q&A, Microsoft wants to grow the number of retail copies of Vista it sells, especially after seeing sales success in test markets where pricing was lowered.
Microsoft’s Brad Brooks said that ‘emerging markets’ would see Vista Home Basic eliminated, replaced instead with Vista Home Premium at a lower price, with Vista Ultimate also seeing a price drop, and with these versions of Vista being full retail copies, and not upgrade versions.
CNET’s Ina Fried
noted that US consumers would see Vista Home Premium drop to US $129 from $159, and Ultimate falling to US $219 from $299 for the 'upgrade’ versions.
Update: I've since discovered that Microsoft IS lowering the price of full retail copies of Vista Ultimate in the US, down to US $319 from $399. What a shame Microsoft didn't eliminate all the different retail versions of Vista altogether and simply go with one: Vista Ultimate - at Vista Home Premium pricing.
Microsoft’s Q&A report says that “These price changes will take effect globally with the retail release of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 later this year, though some markets will see reduced prices sooner as a result of promotions many of our partners already are driving, such as Amazon.com in the United States”.
So Australia should see price drops too for Vista sometime later this year – a long needed development, especially when Vista Ultimate costs well over AUD $700, a ridiculous price for software, especially considering the strength of the Australian dollar against the US greenback.
Brooks then explained that although 100 million licenses of Vista had been sold in the past year, Microsoft sees “an opportunity to grow our business even more with some of the new editions we introduced with Windows Vista”.
Continuing, Brooks said that: “Today, the vast majority of Windows licenses are sold with PCs; retail stand-alone sales, in contrast, have been primarily from customers who value being early adopters and those building their own machines. We’ve observed market behavior, however, that suggests an opportunity to expand Windows stand-alone sales to other segments of the consumer market”.
Brooks noted that Microsoft had “conducted promotions in several different markets combining various marketing tactics with lower price points on different stand-alone versions of Windows Vista”.
Further explaining, Brooks said that: “While the promotions varied region to region, one constant emerged – an increase in demand among consumers that went beyond tech enthusiasts and build-it-yourself types. The success of these promotions has inspired us to make some broader changes to our pricing structures, to reach a broader range of consumers worldwide”.
One can only wonder why Microsoft didn’t think to run this experiment earlier – but I guess it’s a case of better late than never!
So why else has Microsoft dropped Vista pricing – and why will pricing still nevertheless vary from region to region beyond what we've just read Brooks saying? Please read onto page 3.
