undefined | Better HN

0 pointsastrodust9y ago0 comments

> Microsoft doesn't cut the price of Windows because they are making so much from Office.

Microsoft did cut the price of Windows to get people to adopt it early on because they would be making so much money from Office.

Microsoft Word vs. WordPerfect, Excel vs. Quattro Pro and Lotus 1-2-3. These battles were won because of Windows and that cemented their position as industry leader.

Now that Microsoft is in a dominant position they don't cut the price of Windows as much, but to remain on top they do give the OEMs a very sweet per-unit deal they really can't refuse.

0 comments

4 comments · 2 top-level

hackuser9y ago· 1 in thread

> Microsoft did cut the price of Windows to get people to adopt it early on because they would be making so much money from Office

If that's true (and that's not my understanding) they did it to gain marketshare and maximize profit, not because they already had enough profit. In that scenario, they cut the price of Windows to make even more from Office.

astrodustOP9y ago

They cut short term profits in order to cement long-term ones, so yeah, they were maximizing profits but over a longer time-scale than one transaction.

slededit9y ago· 1 in thread

They didn't cut the price. Rather they made a windows runtime available so you could run office on DOS. This was also available to third party ISVs.

astrodustOP9y ago

Bundling for free is cutting the price.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse