5 Reasons that MS Office is priced high

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MS Office is, arguably, the most used software application in the world. The software application dominates most of the office spaces and it is widely used by students and teachers in educational institutions. Nearly all professionals in various different fields and sectors use MS Office for greater efficiency and practicality.

However, the software application does not come for cheap. MS Office is usually priced at higher than $100. The subscriptions to Office apps start at $7 per month or around $70 annually, and the pricing is even more expensive for the professional versions. The MS Office Price can be a major turn off. Now, that begs the question—why is MS Office priced high? Please, do allow us to elucidate.

 

  • 1. High demand

 

One of the major reasons MS Office is priced rather exorbitantly is because of the demand for the application. For example, when a lot of people want to go on a holiday at Christmas and summer times, you will notice the considerable increase in flight prices and hotel rates. Now, almost all professionals and students are reliant on MS Office tools for their work. After all, MS Office has a monopoly over other applications in work areas and educational institutions.  To put it simply, part of the main reason MS Office costs what it does is because people are willing to pay for it.

 

  • 2. Research and development

 

In order to ensure the complete satisfaction of the users and customers, Microsoft spares no expense in the research and development of MS Office software applications. MS Office requires extreme resources to build, maintain, improve, support and test. Microsoft largely promotes MS Office for professional use. Hence, many people resort to purchasing MS Office despite the availability of other cheaper alternatives. MS Office doesn’t compromise when it comes to providing quality features and facilities.

 

  • 3. Licensing deals

 

MS Office is also priced high because Microsoft has to pay a lot for licensing deals to ensure that the MS Office software is compatible with different platforms. The company must strike licensing deals required of all the various tech within the OS for the rights to include ssl, mpg, jpeg, wifi protocols, the ability to read a DVD, etc., and just about everything else. Of course, Microsoft is not running a charity here. The company needs to price their products and services accordingly to get a return on their investments.

 

  • 4. Regulated compliance

 

MS Office is also priced high because Microsoft needs to ensure regulated compliance with international governing bodies about various parts of the testing, functionality, capabilities of the OS to meet legal and contractual obligations.  

 

  • 5. Microsoft is a profitable organization

 

Of course, Microsoft has a lot of shareholders. And, the only way the company can keep the shareholders happy is by turning in profits on a frequent basis. That’s why MS Office is priced high. This is one of the drawbacks of living in a capitalist world.