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Microsoft Said to Cut Windows Price 70% to Counter Rivals

Microsoft Corp. is cutting the price of Windows 8.1 by 70 percent
for makers of low-cost computers and tablets as they try to fend off
cheaper rivals like Google Inc.’s Chromebooks, people familiar with
the program said.

Manufacturers will be charged $15 to license Windows 8.1 and preinstall
it on devices that retail for less than $250, instead of the usual fee
of $50, said the people, who asked not to be named because the details
aren’t public. The discount will apply to any products that meet the
price limit, with no restrictions on the size or type of device, the
people said.

Stronger competition from Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Google cut revenue last
quarter at Microsoft’s devices and consumer licensing division, which
includes Windows software, as the computer industry posted its biggest
annual decline on record. By offering incentives for PC makers to sell
cheaper models, Microsoft may be able to increase its share of the
growing $80 billion tablet market and stave off Chromebooks, notebooks
that run Google’s operating system.

Microsoft, which named Satya Nadella as chief executive officer earlier
this month, is seeking to speed up development and introduction of new
devices. It won’t require products that use the cheaper licensing to
complete logo certification, a process that verifies hardware
compatibility, one of the people said. Devices aren’t required to be
touch-screen compatible, they said.

Julia Kelly-Echeverio, a spokeswoman for Microsoft, declined to comment
yesterday.

Slower Adoption

Microsoft said earlier this month that it has sold more than 200 million
licenses of Windows 8 since the program went on sale in October 2012, a
slower rate of adoption than the previous Windows 7.

While the regular Windows list price was $50, some of the largest global
computer makers paid closer to $30 after incentives such as marketing
funds provided by Microsoft, the people said. Products that receive
discounted license fees won’t be eligible for such marketing support
and incentives, one of the people said.

Global computer shipments fell a record 10 percent last year and are
forecast to continue to decline this year as tablets and smartphones
lure consumers away from traditional desktop and notebook designs,
according to data from market research firm IDC. Tablet sales volume --
dominated by Apple and Google, whose operating systems account for 95
percent of that market -- will climb an average 16 percent through to
2017.




不過也不是每一台出貨的產品都能獲得該優惠，主要有兩大限制，一則該
產品定價必須低於 250 美元，同時若是已經得到微軟提供的市場行銷補貼
（授權金降為 30 美元），該產品也不適用於這一波的授權優惠，然而產
品的種類，無論是入門筆電、平板，或產品大小則沒有限制，只要售價在
250 美元以下皆符合資格；除此之外，也有消息指出新任執行長
Satya Nadella 不打算強制要求這些採用授權優惠的便宜入門產品進行硬體

製造商在面對低價 Android 平板時，能夠保持一些競爭力，但也有消息指



http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2014...rice-70-to-counter-rivals.html

http://www.cool3c.com/article/76054
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迎戰各家平板 chromebook
微軟以降低授權金為頭號武器
下半年可能會看到更多低價筆電 平板 觸控筆電

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※ 編輯: notmuchmoney    來自: 220.141.152.174      (02/22 20:15)

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