A recent Business Week article entitled Windows 7: Microsoft vs. the PC Makers outlines the problems that PC Makers like Dell, HP or Sony have with Microsoft’s Windows 7 price expectations. According to the article PC Makes have to cope with lower hardware sale prices, the rise of the low cost netbook market and Microsoft’s expectations. Microsoft is expecting PC Makers to pay $50 for the Windows 7 Home Starter Edition which is two to three times the price that they currently pay for Windows XP licenses. Windows 7 Starter has been designed for the low cost market only which means that Microsoft does not allow PC Makers to license the operating system for larger notebook or desktop computer systems.
More interesting than that is the comment of Mike Abary, a senior vice-president at Sony’s (SNE) Vaio PC unit, who mentions that Windows 7 Home Premium would raise the price of larger notebooks by $200.
The cost of Windows could rise more sharply on other machines. Microsoft has told PC makers the $50 Starter Edition will be available only for netbooks with screen sizes smaller than 10.2 inches and chips that aren’t capable of playing most games or watching video. Larger netbooks would have to use Windows 7 Home Premium, which would add $200 to a unit’s cost, says Mike Abary, a senior vice-president at Sony’s (SNE) Vaio PC unit.
The question here is if the $200 is a special price for PC Makers or the retail price of the Windows 7 Home Premium operating system. Only 16% of all users who have voted in our latest poll expect Windows 7 to cost $201 or more with an additional 16% thinking that it will cost between $151-$200.
Would you buy Windows 7 Home Premium if it would cost $200 or even more than that?
