Microsoft has slashed the Chinese price of its Office suite for home users by more than 70 per cent in a promotional campaign aimed at persuading consumers in the piracy-plagued market that licensed programs can be affordable.
The promotion brings the cost of Office Home and Student 2007 in China from Rmb699 to only Rmb199 ($29) - a level less than one- seventh of the retail price Microsoft was recommending for the suite of word-processing, spreadsheet and presentation software just three months ago.
Microsoft's Windows operating system and Office suite are ubiquitous in China, but the majority of users have long relied on pirated copies. The piracy rate for personal computer software in China was more than 80 per cent in 2007, according to the Business Software Alliance.
Microsoft saw "very good pick-up" in sales for the Office Home suite after halving its price in June and was now seeking to test how consumers responded to additional reductions, said Garth Fort, general manager for business operations and marketing in Greater China.
"There was feedback from our retail partners that they think there is actually a lot more demand at lower prices, so this is an effort to test the hypothesis," Mr Fort said. "In China . . . there is actually a pretty significant market for high quality counterfeit goods that sells itself as genuine," he said. "We need to figure out how to tap into that with the real product."
The difficulty of persuading Chinese consumers to pay for products easily available in pirated form has meant Microsoft has in the past put limited focus on retailstrategy.
However, the cut-price Office package underlines Microsoft's determination gradually to transform users of its products into paying customers. Mr Fort said the number of copies of the Office home edition prepared for the promotion was equivalent to roughly half a year's inventory at its previous prices, but just one day of sales had shown that some retailers would run out faster than they had expected.
微软(Microsoft)将其面向中国家庭用户的Office套装软件价格下调了70%以上，以求借助这一促销活动在这个受盗版困扰的市场说服消费者：正版软件的价格也是能够承受的。
微软在此次促销中，将Office 2007家庭版和学生版在中国的售价从699元人民币下调至199元人民币（合29美元），这一价格水平还不到微软在仅3个月前给出的建议零售价格的七分之一。Office是包括文字处理、电子表格和演示的套装软件。
微软Windows操作系统和Office套装在中国可谓无处不在，但多数用户长期依赖这些软件的盗版拷贝。商业软件联盟(Business Software Alliance)表示，2007年中国的个人电脑软件盗版率在80%以上。
微软大中国区业务经营与营销部总经理傅嘉思(Garth Fort)表示，在6月份将Office家庭版套装售价减半后，微软注意到销售量出现了"非常好的上升势头"，现在该公司正试图测试消费者对进一步降价的反应。
"我们零售合作伙伴的反馈认为，在较低的价格水平上实际上存在着多得多的需求。因此，此次活动就是为了检验这种假设，"傅嘉思表示。"在中国......实际上存在着一个相当可观的市场，在这个市场中，高质量的假冒商品被当作正品出售，"他表示："我们必须想出怎样才能用正品打入这个市场。"
要说服中国消费者在能够轻易获得盗版形式的商品时去购买正品是有难度的，因此微软在过去只将有限的工作重心放在零售战略上。
但是，此次Office套装的降价突显了微软欲将其产品的用户逐步转化为付费顾客的决心。傅嘉思表示，为此次促销活动准备的Office家庭版的拷贝份数大致相当于以往售价半年的库存量。然而仅一天的销售情况就显示，一些零售商的断货速度比他们预期的还要快。
关键字:双语新闻
生词表:
The promotion brings the cost of Office Home and Student 2007 in China from Rmb699 to only Rmb199 ($29) - a level less than one- seventh of the retail price Microsoft was recommending for the suite of word-processing, spreadsheet and presentation software just three months ago.
Microsoft's Windows operating system and Office suite are ubiquitous in China, but the majority of users have long relied on pirated copies. The piracy rate for personal computer software in China was more than 80 per cent in 2007, according to the Business Software Alliance.
Microsoft saw "very good pick-up" in sales for the Office Home suite after halving its price in June and was now seeking to test how consumers responded to additional reductions, said Garth Fort, general manager for business operations and marketing in Greater China.
"There was feedback from our retail partners that they think there is actually a lot more demand at lower prices, so this is an effort to test the hypothesis," Mr Fort said. "In China . . . there is actually a pretty significant market for high quality counterfeit goods that sells itself as genuine," he said. "We need to figure out how to tap into that with the real product."
The difficulty of persuading Chinese consumers to pay for products easily available in pirated form has meant Microsoft has in the past put limited focus on retailstrategy.
However, the cut-price Office package underlines Microsoft's determination gradually to transform users of its products into paying customers. Mr Fort said the number of copies of the Office home edition prepared for the promotion was equivalent to roughly half a year's inventory at its previous prices, but just one day of sales had shown that some retailers would run out faster than they had expected.
微软(Microsoft)将其面向中国家庭用户的Office套装软件价格下调了70%以上，以求借助这一促销活动在这个受盗版困扰的市场说服消费者：正版软件的价格也是能够承受的。
微软在此次促销中，将Office 2007家庭版和学生版在中国的售价从699元人民币下调至199元人民币（合29美元），这一价格水平还不到微软在仅3个月前给出的建议零售价格的七分之一。Office是包括文字处理、电子表格和演示的套装软件。
微软Windows操作系统和Office套装在中国可谓无处不在，但多数用户长期依赖这些软件的盗版拷贝。商业软件联盟(Business Software Alliance)表示，2007年中国的个人电脑软件盗版率在80%以上。
微软大中国区业务经营与营销部总经理傅嘉思(Garth Fort)表示，在6月份将Office家庭版套装售价减半后，微软注意到销售量出现了"非常好的上升势头"，现在该公司正试图测试消费者对进一步降价的反应。
"我们零售合作伙伴的反馈认为，在较低的价格水平上实际上存在着多得多的需求。因此，此次活动就是为了检验这种假设，"傅嘉思表示。"在中国......实际上存在着一个相当可观的市场，在这个市场中，高质量的假冒商品被当作正品出售，"他表示："我们必须想出怎样才能用正品打入这个市场。"
要说服中国消费者在能够轻易获得盗版形式的商品时去购买正品是有难度的，因此微软在过去只将有限的工作重心放在零售战略上。
但是，此次Office套装的降价突显了微软欲将其产品的用户逐步转化为付费顾客的决心。傅嘉思表示，为此次促销活动准备的Office家庭版的拷贝份数大致相当于以往售价半年的库存量。然而仅一天的销售情况就显示，一些零售商的断货速度比他们预期的还要快。
关键字:双语新闻
生词表:
- retail [´ri:teil, ri´teil]
n.&a.&v.零售(商品的) 四级词汇 - presentation [,prezən´teiʃən] n.介绍；赠送；提出 四级词汇
- counterfeit [´kauntəfit] a.伪造的 v.&n.伪造 四级词汇
- strategy [´strætidʒi] n.兵法；战略 六级词汇
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