China OEM version Win8 price increase impact domestic PC manufacturers

Windows 8, which has received much attention from the industry, has been officially released. In the face of changes in the competitive landscape, Microsoft has increased the price of China's OEM version of Win8, hoping to maintain profit growth through adjustment strategies. This is aggravating the domestic PC makers who are both pinched by smartphones and tablets. Faced with the change of Microsoft's strategy in China, PC manufacturers need to actively promote the integration of neighboring industries, drive the entire industry, and realize the combination of PC and tablet.

Microsoft's disruptive pricing lowers individual user thresholds

At the same time as Windows 8 was released, Microsoft also adjusted its pricing strategy for its previous Windows products. For the average consumer, the new Windows 8 operating system will bring more price surprises to users. It is understood that while simplifying the various system versions, Microsoft lowered the price of the professional version and lowered the threshold of genuine. Throughout the price of Microsoft's Windows, you can find that Windows 8 Professional is priced at $39.99 (248 yuan in China), becoming the lowest generation in the professional version of the past. Most importantly, pirated Windows 7 systems can also be upgraded directly to Windows 8 through purchase. Microsoft is lowering the threshold of genuine in disguise.

This time Microsoft uses a sales strategy that is different from the past, intended to increase Microsoft's revenue in China, thereby maintaining global revenue growth. In May of last year, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said with frustration that every time China sold a personal computer, Microsoft realized only about one-sixth of its revenue in India. He pointed out that Microsoft's revenue in China with a population of 1.3 billion is not as good as the Netherlands with a population of only 17 million. Although the sales of personal computers in China and the United States are comparable, due to the piracy of China, Microsoft’s revenue in China in 2011 will be only about 5% of the revenue in the United States.

With the popularity of smartphones and tablets, and the rapid rise of Apple's iOS, Android and other operating systems, the old Windows system has been strongly impacted. In the face of changes in the competitive landscape, Microsoft's anti-piracy strategy has gradually changed from a tough anti-piracy to promote and guide users to use genuine, while significantly reducing the price threshold, in order to let Win8 no longer pirate raging situation, Microsoft can say that it is a waste of money.

OEM version of Win8 price increase PC manufacturers passive acceptance

Compared with the ordinary user's retail version of Microsoft's gods, domestic PC manufacturers have been completely different treatment. Microsoft decided to increase the price of the OEM version of Win8. Although the manufacturers disputed this, Microsoft still insisted on raising the price.

According to several domestic OEMs, Microsoft China raised the OME license price of the system, and the price increase is not low, close to the cost of 5% to 10% of PC. In terms of brand manufacturers, Acer's operating profit margin was 0.12% in the first quarter and 4.81% in Asus. In the face of such aggressive strategy, OEMs listed a number of systemless bare-metal machines around the end of October, including HP, Lenovo and Acer. Some of the PCs that users bought at the time needed to install the system themselves. However, there are not many choices from PC manufacturers. Microsoft's price increase for OEMs will eventually be added to the total price of PCs. This means that consumers have to pay extra fees to pay for Windows 8 products.

In the past 20 years, Microsoft and PC manufacturers have formed a cooperative relationship. But with the changes in Microsoft, the attitude of various brand manufacturers has also changed. Dell said that with the launch of Windows 8, the company will launch a large number of devices equipped with Windows 8 to counter Microsoft's own brand tablet Surface. Ultrabooks, integrated tablets and aggregation devices equipped with Windows 8 will also be released in the fourth quarter of this year and next year. Acer has become the first PC partner to publicly protest against Microsoft. Because Microsoft's Surface tablet poses a direct threat to Acer's Iconia series, Microsoft has been publicly attacked by Acer. In this regard, Acer said, “Require Microsoft to carefully consider this move. This is not your strength. Please think twice before it will affect the interests of more partners and bring huge negative impacts to the entire industry. ”

PC“Future” Tablet or new hotspots in the market

As a new generation of operating systems, Windows 8 and previous Windows systems have a lot of The difference, Windows 8 innovation is not in the previous Windows, mainly in the convergence of the PC interface and the tablet interface, in the previous version of the experience, the interface changes, the adaptation of the tile mode, and the switching of the dual interface, All need users to adapt to a period of time.

The survey shows that in many applications of tablets and traditional PCs, users are more likely to use the tablet to access the Internet, browse news, social games and games; while on traditional PCs, more are shopping transactions, documents and The main application related to work. This survey just confirms that Intel's predicted PC is a tool for producing information, and the tablet is more of a judgment of consumer information tools. The two are irreplaceable and complementary. This also brings the existing market and user base to tablet/PC integration.

Analysis believes that in the era of the PC industry downturn, the industry expects the launch of Windows 8 to promote a new round of PC sales, and in the "post-PC era", the form of traditional personal computers began to New directions are developing. As Windows 8 supports both touch screen devices and traditional PCs, desktop computers with touch screens and cross-border products for notebooks and tablets will become new hot spots in the market.

For domestic PC makers, Windows 8 is both an opportunity and a challenge. Due to Microsoft's price increase for the Chinese OEM version, the profit is further compressed. At the same time, the introduction of differentiated products such as desktop computers with touch screens, if accepted by consumers, will actively promote the integration of neighboring industries, drive the entire industry, and realize the combination of PC and tablet.