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Microsoft cuts Windows Vista price to $66 in China
Although Microsoft claims that Windows Vista sales in China are better than previously reported, the company has reduced the price of its latest operating system in order to spur sales.On Wednseday, the company has cut the price of Windows Vista Home Baisc to just under $66 US dollars, which is about 1/3rd the price it had been selling for. The price of Windows Vista Home Premium has also received a 50% price cut. It now retails for about $120 US.
Any way you look at it, the new prices make it a lot cheaper to buy legal copies of Windows Vista in China than in the US. But it's still hard to compete with free, or next to it. China has long been a hotbed of software piracy, and word on the street is that you can pick up a copy of Windows Vista for about a buck.
Comments
6
Subscribe to commentsnXqd3051990Aug 4th 2007 9:18PM
It can help a bit :p
US and other Europe can't control asia right now.
We have own way
nXqd
momojieAug 4th 2007 9:12AM
I don't think that helps.Almost all the Chinese computer users can't afford Vista even though it's just required for 66USD.You know what?In common,a Chinese college boy can live for one whole month with 60USD or even less.So you can figure out how expensive this soft is for most Chinese people.
JeebouAug 4th 2007 12:02PM
Wow! 66$, that's about 500 RMB, if I'm not mistaken. I might pick one up, if you can use it in English.
And I have seen pirated copies for about 20-50 RMB, which is around 3 to 7$, although I'm sure you can deal it down to a buck if you're really insisting.
I have also seen giant billboards announcing Vista in most cities I visited when it came out. I remember seeing some that were plastered on the side of buildings while my plane was landing in Xiamen and another one next to a huge screen that showed Nike ads in Chengdu!
AalaapAug 4th 2007 4:16PM
$120 for Home Premium is a fabulous price! In India, the OEM pack sells for around $150, but that's just a disc and doesn't come with any support (it's only for OEM system builders). I'd pay $30 more for a proper box and support!
SkippiAug 5th 2007 8:36AM
To momojie - yes, it does not help at all, not for college students. I wonder why college student in Europe or China has to pay anywhere from 150-60 for Vista while student in the US goes easily with Vista for under 15 bucks, such as is the case at Carnegie Mellon. Offer that price to students round the world and they might be much higher penetration of legal software. Even I would pay 15 bucks for fresh updated Windows...
JamesAug 7th 2007 3:02PM
When is MS going to figure out that the Linux OS model is better for business? You're never going to get Asian lower-middle class people to pay any appreciable amount of money for your software; they simply don't have the resources. Even if you took a month's salary from every Chinese user of your software, it probably wouldn't move your stock price by a single dollar. Undercut the pirates, give the "Home" version of the software away, then charge businesses a premium for the "Pro" version, and MAKE YOUR MONEY ON SUPPORT. Seriously, government and corporate clients will shell out huge amounts of money to sustain a support contract -- that's where your cash comes from, not piddly little Joe (or in this case Zhao) Six-Pack buying his individual license for Vista.