Rubin was talking about reports a year ago that Microsoft discounted a combination Windows-Office license to $30 from the usual $120 later, Microsoft reportedly offered small tablet makers an Office 2013 license for free.
However, it has made other concessions, particularly in the low price/small display tablet market, throwing in a version of Office." "Microsoft has defended the licensing price of Windows, arguing that it does more and provides more value. "It wouldn't be too surprising," said Rubin when asked about the likelihood Microsoft has selectively slashed Windows pricing. The latter exemption was aimed at traditional clamshell-style notebooks, as tablets demand touch.
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The devices eligible for the cheap Windows 8.1 licenses will not be required to complete Microsoft's complicated logo certification - a process that guarantees hardware works with the operating system - said The Verge, and do not need to be touch-enabled.
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The Verge weighed in on the Windows discount, as well, claiming that the price cuts are linked to the upcoming Windows 8.1 Update 1 and a change in that revision that will automatically send users of non-touch hardware to the traditional mouse-and-keyboard desktop.īy letting users bypass the touch- and tile-centric "Metro" user interface (UI) of Windows 8 and 8.1, Microsoft has recanted its "make-them-eat-Metro" strategy, one of the key tenets of the company's plan to gain ground in mobile, analysts have said. While the cheap laptops, made by everyone from Samsung and Dell to HP and Asus, sold well last year in commercial distribution channels - the outlets schools and some businesses use to purchase hardware - their overall impact as measured by online users has been small.īut Microsoft has been alarmed enough about the Chromebook threat to take the offensive in ads that diss the machines as useless for real work. How much Chromebooks are pressing Microsoft's business has been in dispute. The pricing competition in smaller form factors is even more brutal than it has been with Chromebooks." That's where it really needs to gain share. That's a form factor where Windows 8.1's touch capabilities represent market expansion. "Microsoft still has a dominant share of the clamshell market, but it is far behind in tablets. "Competing with Chromebooks may be a motivator, but likely the bigger motivator is in tablets," said Ross Rubin, an independent analyst with Reticle Research. While the news agency did not spell it out, Microsoft is also threatened on the low end by cut-rate tablets running Google's Android, which is given to OEMs free of charge, or nearly so.
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