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Microsoft slashes price of Windows 8 to take on cheapo computers

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By Noel Young, Correspondent

February 22, 2014 | 2 min read

Microsoft with new man Satya Nadella in charge is set to cut the price of Windows 8.1 by 70% for makers of low-cost computers and tablets as they compete with ultra cheap rivals such as Google Chromebooks which sell for around $250.

Windows 8: Prices slashed

Manufacturers will be charged $15 to license Windows 8.1 and preinstall it on devices that retail for less than $250, instead of the usual $50, said a Bloomberg report.

The discount will be on any device that come in under $250.

Stronger competition from Apple and Google has cut into Microsoft licensing revenue includes Windows last quarter.

Cheaper PCs may help Microsoft increase its share of the growing $80 billion tablet market, said Bloomberg. A main rival : Chromebook notebooks that run Google’s operating system.

Microsoft has sold more than 200 million Windows 8 licenses since it went on sale in October 2012, but this is slower than Windows 7.

Bloomberg points out that the computer industry has posted its biggest annual decline on record. Tablet sales, however -- dominated by Apple and Google, whose operating systems account for 95 percent of that market -- are estimated to climb an average 16 percent through to 2017.

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