Microsoft To Charge Europeans 2X For Windows 7-> 2
Submitted
by
CWmike
CWmike writes "European customers will pay up to twice as much for Windows 7 compared with U.S. users, even though the new operating system will ship without a browser in Europe. Some of the money Microsoft stands to make on the European editions of Windows 7 comes from the weak dollar. Last week, for instance, the dollar fell against the euro the most in a month, hitting $1.41 per euro. For example, Windows 7 Professional, the key retail edition for businesses, will sport a price tag of 285, or $400.60, and £189.99, or $313.84, at Saturday's exchange rate. In other words, EU customers will pay twice the $199.99 U.S. price; U.K. buyers will pay 57% more. And depending on your view on bundling IE, Europe's customers will be paying more for less, with Microsoft's decision to yank IE8 from Windows 7 in an effort to head off EU antitrust regulators, who may still force the company to take more drastic measures."
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Europe the Milking Cow of Microsoft (Score:1)
Market-based pricing (Score:1)
Software is usually more expensive in Europe than in the USA. Simply put, you maximize your revenue by charging as much as the market can withstand before you start driving customers away.
It's not like translation and shipping costs enough to justify doubling the price of a product.
Apparently, Europeans can afford/are willing to spend about twice as much on Windows 7 than Americans (at least, Microsoft thinks so).