All over the world there have been pre-release discounts for Windows 7. These have actually been for several months in many countries. Yet in South Africa we have only in the last week been able to order from local suppliers - and their prices offer no discounts at all.
I've been looking at Windows 7 Home Premium (full edition, not the upgrade), since that's what I'm going for. Here's the local pricing:
Zaps: R1102 - This is DSP; the retail price is R1381
Landmark: R1102.38 - This is DSP; the retail price is R1393.08
Kalahari.net: R1378.95
Take 2: R1290
Prophecy: R1443.86
Microsoft's price: UK - £149.99 (R1813.57); US - $199.99 (R1477.36)
(If you go to the Microsoft SA site and follow the trail to order Windows 7, you'll get the UK price. There's no obvious trail to follow though - the front of the SA site doesn't mention Windows 7, only Vista.)
The pre-order specials overseas that I've seen range from as low as £40 to £70 (R500 to R850). Amazon UK was selling it for about £64 (the price has since gone up). And these offers have been around for several months. (The initial offer may have been as low as $50 [R370], though I never saw any such offer.)
I decided to get in touch with Microsoft to ask about this. A representative of the Response Management team phoned me today. He started off by saying that Microsoft doesn't sell directly to the public and that it's up to retailers to promote sales. My response was: retailers evidently haven't received any discounted versions because they definitely would have been pushing them. The conversation became rather convoluted after that, but a few things were mentioned.
Microsoft SA has to choose to take part in a promotion. Surely they would take part in this one, since it leads to Windows being adopted by more people? No direct answer; rather I was told that South Africa operates differently to other regions. He offered two examples: (1) you can upgrade to Windows 7 if you buy a new machine with Vista on it; (2) at one point there was an offer for students where you could get Office for $50, but it wasn't available in SA and your only chance to get it was to organise for someone overseas to get it for you (yes, this is what he mentioned to me).
I think that not offering discounts to South Africa is unacceptable for three reasons:
(1) Microsoft often complains about piracy in places like South Africa. Cutting the price is a method to encourage legitimate purchases - they've done this in China before (for XP and Vista). This was a perfect opportunity to encourage legitimacy in SA. And it would have gone far further because people are so positive about Windows 7.
(2) Why should South Africa be treated differently to (most of) the rest of the world?
(3) South Africa is a third world country; don't we need discounts more than the first world countries who are receiving them?
Personally, I believe Microsoft is doing something that South African businesses like to do: charge as much as possible because they can.
To anyone who might suggest buying overseas: (1) it's largely too late now; (2) it's difficult because most overseas stores won't ship to SA and many won't ship to anywhere other than the credit card's billing address; and (3) why should I have to?
Does anyone else feel irritated by this?
I've been looking at Windows 7 Home Premium (full edition, not the upgrade), since that's what I'm going for. Here's the local pricing:
Zaps: R1102 - This is DSP; the retail price is R1381
Landmark: R1102.38 - This is DSP; the retail price is R1393.08
Kalahari.net: R1378.95
Take 2: R1290
Prophecy: R1443.86
Microsoft's price: UK - £149.99 (R1813.57); US - $199.99 (R1477.36)
(If you go to the Microsoft SA site and follow the trail to order Windows 7, you'll get the UK price. There's no obvious trail to follow though - the front of the SA site doesn't mention Windows 7, only Vista.)
The pre-order specials overseas that I've seen range from as low as £40 to £70 (R500 to R850). Amazon UK was selling it for about £64 (the price has since gone up). And these offers have been around for several months. (The initial offer may have been as low as $50 [R370], though I never saw any such offer.)
I decided to get in touch with Microsoft to ask about this. A representative of the Response Management team phoned me today. He started off by saying that Microsoft doesn't sell directly to the public and that it's up to retailers to promote sales. My response was: retailers evidently haven't received any discounted versions because they definitely would have been pushing them. The conversation became rather convoluted after that, but a few things were mentioned.
Microsoft SA has to choose to take part in a promotion. Surely they would take part in this one, since it leads to Windows being adopted by more people? No direct answer; rather I was told that South Africa operates differently to other regions. He offered two examples: (1) you can upgrade to Windows 7 if you buy a new machine with Vista on it; (2) at one point there was an offer for students where you could get Office for $50, but it wasn't available in SA and your only chance to get it was to organise for someone overseas to get it for you (yes, this is what he mentioned to me).
I think that not offering discounts to South Africa is unacceptable for three reasons:
(1) Microsoft often complains about piracy in places like South Africa. Cutting the price is a method to encourage legitimate purchases - they've done this in China before (for XP and Vista). This was a perfect opportunity to encourage legitimacy in SA. And it would have gone far further because people are so positive about Windows 7.
(2) Why should South Africa be treated differently to (most of) the rest of the world?
(3) South Africa is a third world country; don't we need discounts more than the first world countries who are receiving them?
Personally, I believe Microsoft is doing something that South African businesses like to do: charge as much as possible because they can.
To anyone who might suggest buying overseas: (1) it's largely too late now; (2) it's difficult because most overseas stores won't ship to SA and many won't ship to anywhere other than the credit card's billing address; and (3) why should I have to?
Does anyone else feel irritated by this?
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