Microsoft confirms that Win8 prices will soar 7 times

According to sources, starting from February 1, the price of Win8 will rise from the current 248 yuan to 198 yuan, soaring by 700%, which will cause doubts in the industry and consumers. Microsoft China Company issued a statement to this newspaper yesterday that this is not a price increase. The previous price of 248 yuan was for the preferential price of the market. Now the preferential period has expired and the original price of 1998 yuan has been restored. However, industry sources said that the current Microsoft win8 did not expect a large number of shipments, which drastically spurred Microsoft's performance, and hope that through the introduction of hardware surface to drive the software also failed to achieve the desired results, Microsoft still faces challenges daunting.

The price challenge queried the query On the Microsoft China official online website, the price of Windows 8 Pro is currently still 248 yuan, but Microsoft clearly stated below the product that the price will end on January 31, 2013. From February 1, 2013, the price of Windows 8 Pro will be increased to RMB 198 yuan. As the price rose from 248 yuan to 1998, the rate reached 705.6%, causing consumer and industry doubts.

A person in charge of the Microsoft China company stated that in fact the price adjustment is not a price increase, but the original promotional date ends and the original price is restored. It is reported that in October 2012, Microsoft launched a special campaign to attract users. The price of upgrading Windows 8 was US$39.99, and that of China was RMB248.

Win8 did not achieve the expected results but some people in the industry believe that, although it is the end of the promotional date, but for Microsoft, win8 did not achieve the desired results, Microsoft needs to restore the original price to enhance their profitability.

According to statistics, Windows 7 revenue increased by 76% during the quarter, and the release of Windows Vista drove Microsoft’s current quarter’s Windows operating revenue growth by 65%. However, the second fiscal quarter of fiscal 2013 showed that Microsoft’s revenue for the fiscal quarter was US$21,460 million, an increase of only 3% year-on-year. At the same time, Microsoft’s operating profit and net profit both declined year-on-year in the quarter, including operating profit of US$7.77 billion, which was a decrease of 3% year-on-year; net profit was 63.8. Billion US dollar, down 3.7% year-on-year; and Microsoft's Windows season revenue of 5.88 billion US dollars, an increase of 24%.

The impact of the tablet is still difficult to change It is reported that market research firm IDC data shows that in the fourth quarter of last year, global PC shipments were 89.8 million units, a decrease of 6.4% year-on-year. At the same time, global PC sales in 2012 were 352.4 million units, a decrease of 3.2% from 2011. At the same time, it is the rise in global shipments of tablet computers.

Digitimes research report shows that the world's major brands of tablet PC shipments are expected to reach 40.93 million units in the fourth quarter of 2012, an increase of 72.7% over the previous quarter, an increase of 89.7%. Meanwhile, Digitimes expects 2012 global brand tablet Computer shipments will reach 104 million units, an increase of 64% year-on-year. In early January of this year, Microsoft announced that Windows 8 has sold 60 million copies globally. UBS analyst Brent Hill predicts sales of Microsoft’s Surface tablet in the fourth quarter of last year. Only 1 million, and Goldman Sachs analyst Heze Bellini released a research report and even said that the previous quarter Surface RT shipments were only 230,000 units.

Insiders said that at present, Microsoft has not announced the sales of the surface, so all kinds of forecasting data can not be confirmed, but the impact of Tablet PC on the shipment of Pc will only grow bigger, Microsoft's future challenges will be even more daunting.