L
Lembicz
Vilification for Microsoft over UK Vista pricing
British consumers will pay double the price of their US counterparts
Anthony Dhanendran, Computeract!ve 31 Jan 2007
Microsoft has come under fire for the way it will charge UK consumers for
copies of Vista, the latest version of Microsoft's Windows operating system.
British customers are complaining that they will have to pay nearly double
what American consumers will pay. A copy of the upgrade from Windows XP to
Vista Home Basic in the UK will cost £100, while American users will pay
$100 which at current exchange rates is only £51 for the same item. Similar
disparities occur throughout the Vista range.
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates told the BBC that the company aims "to keep
prices largely in line, country to country". He said that any price
differences were likely to be down to exchange rate fluctuations.
When contacted by Computeractive, a representative of Microsoft reiterated
this stance and said: "In view of the unpredictability of exchange rate
fluctuations. Microsoft believes that our customers are best served by price
stability. To provide and maintain this stability, we do not make pricing
changes frequently."
However this line has been questioned by the industry. Technology analyst
Annette Jump of Gartner told Computeractive: "I'm not sure that
justification makes sense, especially as the dollar is quite weak. But it's
up to Microsoft how they set their prices."
There could yet be a bonus for consumers as retailers drop the prices of
Windows XP computers to shift them in order to clear space for Vista PCs. A
representative of the British Retail Consortium said there would be a push
to " get rid of the old to bring in the new".
Like this story? Spread the news by clicking below:
del.icio.us Digg this reddit!
http://www.pcw.co.uk/computeractive/news/2173895/vilification-vista-pricing
British consumers will pay double the price of their US counterparts
Anthony Dhanendran, Computeract!ve 31 Jan 2007
Microsoft has come under fire for the way it will charge UK consumers for
copies of Vista, the latest version of Microsoft's Windows operating system.
British customers are complaining that they will have to pay nearly double
what American consumers will pay. A copy of the upgrade from Windows XP to
Vista Home Basic in the UK will cost £100, while American users will pay
$100 which at current exchange rates is only £51 for the same item. Similar
disparities occur throughout the Vista range.
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates told the BBC that the company aims "to keep
prices largely in line, country to country". He said that any price
differences were likely to be down to exchange rate fluctuations.
When contacted by Computeractive, a representative of Microsoft reiterated
this stance and said: "In view of the unpredictability of exchange rate
fluctuations. Microsoft believes that our customers are best served by price
stability. To provide and maintain this stability, we do not make pricing
changes frequently."
However this line has been questioned by the industry. Technology analyst
Annette Jump of Gartner told Computeractive: "I'm not sure that
justification makes sense, especially as the dollar is quite weak. But it's
up to Microsoft how they set their prices."
There could yet be a bonus for consumers as retailers drop the prices of
Windows XP computers to shift them in order to clear space for Vista PCs. A
representative of the British Retail Consortium said there would be a push
to " get rid of the old to bring in the new".
Like this story? Spread the news by clicking below:
del.icio.us Digg this reddit!
http://www.pcw.co.uk/computeractive/news/2173895/vilification-vista-pricing