Windows 10 won't be free for everyone
One of the unknowns surrounding Windows 10 is its price and business modelUntil now Microsoft had not delivered any official information on the matter, so there were several alternatives on the table. One of them is to make the leap to complete free of charge, discarding the sale of licenses to start obtaining benefits through devices (Apple style) and associated services (Google style).
Well, now that possibility has been ruled out, after an interview given by Kevin Turner, Windows 10 operations manager (the same one who told us about the operating system's release date).What Turner tells us, in a few words, is that the Windows 10 business model has not yet been well defined, but even so, they are already clear that will not follow the loss leader strategy, at least for now.
The loss leader strategy consists of offering a product at a price below the market value in order to stimulate the sales of others associated products and services (examples: Xbox 360 with Xbox Live, Kindle with eBooks, or printers with ink cartridges).
"However, this does not imply that Windows 10 will be profitable with the classic license sales model. In fact, immediately after discarding the loss leader strategy, Turner acknowledges that they will still start to make losses in the Windows division with the arrival of this new version."
The reading that I think can be made of this is that they will try to cover the losses as much as possible through the sale of licenses, achieve that those revenues cover development costs, but that goal will most likely not be achieved. This isn't going to be because Windows 10 is intentionally being sold below market value, but because the market value of operating systems like Windows is declining on its own
However, that will not be a reason to panic, because Windows 10 will stimulate the sale of other associated services such as OneDrive, Office 365, Bing, and Skype, just as Windows 8 is already doing, and with that revenue Microsoft hopes to recoup losses and turn a profit.
In any case, we still don't know the details of how this strategy will be implemented, so the uncertainty continues as to what prices and promotions Microsoft will offer to the market.
We're likely to see more Windows-style initiatives with Bing, and offering a free upgrade to current Windows 8.1 users can't be ruled out either, but that said, There is nothing confirmed for now and we will have to wait until next year to have more official information on this topic.
Via | Citeworld
