Quote:
Originally Posted by Szumo
Not true - which was clearly shown in the music and video business. When legal, convenient (easy to buy and easy to use) and reasonably priced alternatives appear, piracy levels decrease. There will always remain those who will prefer free illegal copy over legal cheap one, but they are not the majority.
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A good example of this would be Microsoft's pricing strategy in China.
They were trying to sell at the same price they would in the West, and to quote from one report:
"Microsoft spent millions of dollars advertising its next generation OS 'Windows Vista' in China, in fact the IT juggernaut threw up the biggest Vista Ad on the 421 meter high Jin Mao tower in Shanghai China. However after 2 weeks (Jan 19 to Feb 2) from launch Microsoft managed to sell a mere
244 copies of Windows Vista. "
They've now slashed prices so that a student edition of Windows and Office is $3, and government licences less that $10. Now people are buying legitimate copies. Are they making a massive amount of money? no, but they are making some rather than none, and they are getting people to buy legitimate software. Over time they will try to push the price up while still keeping the sales.
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/hiner/?p=525