Microsoft Discounting Windows 8 For OEMs to Boost Sales
Looks like Microsoft is hurting enough to drop the price of its licensing fees for Windows 8 and Windows RT.
Both the Wall Street Journal and DigiTimes are reporting that Microsoft has cut the prices of Windows 8 and Office 2013 to boost current lackluster sales.
The Redmond-based company's blocky new operating system is struggling to gain traction since its release back in September 2012 even though the company offered discounted upgrades until January 2013, and launched two branded tablets. Office 2013 just launched in January, but has been plagued with complaints about Microsoft's policy regarding the transfer of the suite from one PC to another.
However, news of a discount is surprising given that the company is typically reluctant to alter its pricing. But, even before the new platform was launched, industry sources said OEMs were worried about the inability to launch multiple devices given Microsoft's hefty licensing fees. By comparison, Google offers Android for free, and likely why HP recently announced an Android tablet rather than one based on Windows RT.
"They've always held [pricing] close to the vest," said Allan Krans, an analyst with Technology Business Research. "They've always been insistent on maintaining that pricing, but a discount makes sense, given the holiday season, the back-and-forth with the OEMs and the slow start to the Surface."
Earlier this week, research firm IDC partially blamed Windows 8 for a projected 1.3-percent decline in PC sales in 2013, saying that an "underwhelming reception" has led to a second-consecutive year of declining PC sales. The decline was even worse in 2012: a 3.7-percent drop from 2011's sales numbers.
Both reports claim that the discounts offered by Microsoft will be on the OEM side. According to the Wall Street Journal, a discount will be applied to a Windows 8 and Office 2013 bundle, cutting between $30 to around $120. The qualifying device must be a PC, or one with a built-in touch screen smaller than 10.8-inches.
As for DigiTimes, unnamed sources claim that Microsoft will knock $20 off the typical $80 or $90 licensing fee OEM's must shell out per PC. This discount will apply to several form factors including desktops and laptops, tablets and hybrid devices with touch screens 11.6-inches or smaller.
Based on the reports, Microsoft is seemingly trying to push devices with touch-based screens by reducing the licensing costs for OEMs. Touch screens are one of the more expensive components which is why so few Windows 8-based devices (outside the tablet and AIO sectors) are up for sale. Touch screen prices are definitely falling, but likely not fast enough for Microsoft, which seemingly depends on the technology to make Windows 8 work as intended.
As Computerworld points out, for a long while the bestselling notebook on Amazon has been Samsung's 11.6-inch Chromebook, which sells for $249. Customers out looking for a similar cutting-edge deals have balked at the prices brought on by Windows 8 notebooks sporting expensive touchscreens.
"If you think about the components in a PC, almost every one has dropped off a [price] cliff," Krans added. "Except for the OS. Microsoft's pricing is their one lever left, the last where it can have a big impact on PC prices."
The sad thing is, they can easily fix it. All they have to do is create two modes that the user can easily switch between: touch mode and desktop mode.
And that's it. Done, you have a winner.
It is not about how hard you flog, it is about the horse being dead.
MS does not need discounts, in fact sales were horrible even when IT WAS discounted at launch!
They need a live horse, aka an usable operating system, to be sold instead of 8.
Haha, my thoughts exactly. Windows 7 is kinda slow but for a Windows it's good enough. I also have Linux on my PC and I'm really, realyl happy. I see no reason to switch to Windows 8.
It is not about how hard you flog, it is about the horse being dead.
MS does not need discounts, in fact sales were horrible even when IT WAS discounted at launch!
They need a live horse, aka an usable operating system, to be sold instead of 8.
As a power user, I'll be waiting to see if something better comes along and limit my Windows 8 use to the cheap family laptop.
I see no upsides, only downsides.
Some time ago people jsut bought stuff, nowdays, since there is an economical recession, people are more carefull with their money, so companies that dont make good products are going to go down real fast.
The sad thing is, they can easily fix it. All they have to do is create two modes that the user can easily switch between: touch mode and desktop mode.
And that's it. Done, you have a winner.
I can get it for free threw my college but its not worth it after this release i made sure i got 2 product keys for 7 though
The only reason why is because the desktop does not boot up at first and the performance is the same under many benchmarks when i tested it using 2 different computers.
Hm... speaking from personal experience, I cannot really say that Windows 7 is slow.
From what I was able to ascertain... Windows 8 is marginally faster than 7 in general tasks (even the boot-up is basically identical to Windows 7 once you turn off the Hybernate-like shut-down and do a cold boot of the system).
However, Windows 8 might have certain things in its favor compared to 7. For example, some games might run faster, and general responsiveness of the OS might be improved - but realistically speaking, they could have released a SP2 for Windows 7 that does the same thing.
In the end, most people certainly wouldn't notice those differences, and if you switch to an SSD on Windows 7, then basically there would be 0 difference.
Ultimately, right now I see no viable reason to switch to Windows 8, and since I hadn't used it personally, I cannot say anything about it conclusively, but I don't see the need to switch to it seeing how I am comfortable with Windows 7, and it does everything I need/want very fast as is (and I'm using a regular HDD).
Price has nothing to do with it. If that was the case, apple should be long dead. But apple only charges $25-30 for OS upgrades.
If windows 8 was given to me for free... It would be placed next to my dusty copy of windowsME.
WIndowsRT of course is a mess... Bait and switch. Win8phone is still different, etc etc... A common looking UI with no compatibility and a worse learning curve than Linux. Then throw on their rip-off tactics of Office 2013???!! Even their Bing vs Google campaign is a farce. I tried it... Bing failed at finding my test inquiries... That google hand no problems finding.
Microsoft / Windows = irrvelent
Sorry, but nobody bitching about default UI is a power user.
Other than deep pockets... MS seems to be much dumber than RIM.
Other than deep pockets... MS seems to be much dumber than RIM.
I'm a supposed 'power' user and find no issue with Windows 8 on the desktop, laptop and of course, tablets. Why not? It's Windows 7 with extras. What is a power user anyway? I run multiple VMS, administer a network etc and Windows 8 has never gotten in the way of my day to day work. I actually like having easy access to the Kindle/ebay/other app and it saves a whole load of crap being installed across my SSD.
Don't any of you actually see the benefits of Windows 8? The GUI is damn easy to use, the OS 'is' better than Windows 7 (Seeing as it pretty much is 7 anyway) so I'm not too sure why we have a whole load of negativity?
Baffles me.