Microsoft is using pricing to take on rivals along two product fronts.
The world’s No. 1 software maker has targeted Open Office and other rivals by rolling out a “total steal” promotion that lets college students buy its Office Ultimate 2007 suite for $59.95, 91 percent off estimated retail price.
At the same time, Microsoft has launched a new round of commercials that for the first time take direct aim at the price premium afforded to Macintosh computers from Apple.
Though students have long been able to get Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 for well under the $149.95 list price, the Ultimate package lists for $679.95 and sells for several hundred dollars even after discounts. On Friday, for instance, one Amazon.com vendor was selling the package for $384.99.
Unlike the student and home version, the Ultimate suite
Includes special database, accounting and publishing programs.
The price cut comes as free software that duplicate some Office functions gains traction. For instance, Sun Microsystem’s open source OpenOffice.org suite on Thursday recorded its 50 millionth download since the latest version was released in October. Google Docs, meanwhile, offers a free web-based word processor and spreadsheet with collaborative functions.
Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Windows, while still the dominant global operating system, has Apple’s Macintosh eroding its lead.
Market tracker Net Applications reported that in February Windows machines had 88.41 percent of the market, while Macs had 9.61 percent. That compares to a 90.59 percent share for Microsoft Windows in August 2008, when Macs registered a 7.86 percent share.
One new Microsoft commercial, red-headed Lauren goes shopping for an under-$1,000 computer with a comfortable keyboard and a 17-inch screen. She goes to an Apple store but emerges lamenting that the only thing available in her price range is a computer with a 13-inch screen. She continues her quest in an electronics store that has several models loaded with Windows in her price range. Says Lauren: “I’m just not cool enough to be a Mac person.”