Yesterday, Microsoft revealed pricing for Office 2013, in both the traditional boxed versions and the new Office 365 subscription-based services.
That’s right, starting sometime in early 2013 (release specifics were not announced), you’ll be able to subscribe to Microsoft Office.
We have plenty of things in life we subscribe to. Cable, internet, phone, Mustache Aficionado magazine (just me?), and Microsoft is hoping you’re ready to add Office to that list.
And while you can argue the merits of a subscription-based software service, that’s a different article. We want to look a little deeper at how the fine folks in Redmond are slowly but surely taking up more and more of our monthly subscription dollars. There’s at least four different ways you can opt to give money to Microsoft on a monthly basis, and if some projections are to be believed, that number could grow in the coming months.
It’s not a jump to conclude that someone could subscribe to both Xbox Live Gold and Zune/Xbox Music Pass. Just a few months back, Microsoft introduced a new subscription-based method for buying a new Xbox 360, and now you can subscribe to Office 365.
Some of you out there, like me, might also be coughing up dough for additional SkyDrive storage every year, or perhaps you already had a 365 subscription for your email management. So here’s how it could break down for the average consumer:
- Xbox Live Gold – $59/year
- Zune/Xbox Music Pass – $99/year
- Office 365 – $99/year
With these three core services, you’re looking at more than $21 a month heading to Microsoft.
But wait, there’s more! There are upgraded options for both Xbox Live Gold Family ($99/year) and Office 365 Small Business Premium ($149/year). That brings our monthly total to $29 a month.
Now let’s start really having fun. Let’s say you want to substitute the normal Xbox Live Gold with the subsidized $99 Xbox 360 subscription. That turns Xbox live into a $179/year proposition, not including the $99 you have to put out to buy the Xbox 360. Where do we stand now?
- Xbox 360 subscription/Gold – $179/year
- Xbox Music – $99/year
- Office 365 – $99 or $149/year
If you opt for the Office 365 Home Premium route, you’re talking $31 a month, with Small Business more than $35 a month.
Add in additional SkyDrive storage at up to $50 a year and you could be talking about nearly $40 a month in Microsoft subscription payments, nearly $500 a year. Imagine what you would have done to someone two years ago if they said there was a day coming where you would be paying Microsoft $40 a month to use Word, play video games, listen to music and store pictures online. It’s safe to say that the word “clinical” would have been used.
And let’s not forget some wild theories that Microsoft’s new Surface Tablet could possibly come in at a rock-bottom price with a subscription tied to it (though I wouldn’t hold my breath).
When you look at all these options, one has to wonder if Microsoft might have some bundle packaging up its sleeve. For example today, a single Xbox Live Gold subscription with Xbox Music Pass would run $160 a year. I for one would jump at the chance to pay $110 or $125 for a combo subscription. As you add in other services, the combo price gets cheaper.
You’d probably be hard-pressed to find more than a handful of people who opt-in to all the possible Microsoft services. But if you take that possible $500 and cut it down to, say $25 a month, Microsoft might be able to pull a lot more people into its ecosystem.
And in a world where services are starting to become as important, if not more important, than hardware, Microsoft would be wise to entice as many people as it can into using as many of its services as possible.
[…] $500 a Year in Microsoft Subscriptions? Not As Crazy As You’d Think […]