Microsoft to increase prices by up to 20% for some flagship products

Aug. 19 (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) on Thursday announced it would increase prices by up to 20% for a software bundle called Microsoft 365 that includes popular apps like Teams and Outlook.

The increases will take effect in six months, Microsoft said in a blog post announcing the change.

The Microsoft 365 suite is the cornerstone of the company’s productivity and business process segment, which achieved $ 53.9 billion in revenue in its most recent fiscal year, or roughly one-third of sales. Microsoft’s total of $ 168 billion.

The increases will affect business customers and are the first since Microsoft rolled out the service ten years ago. Jared Spataro, vice president of Microsoft 365, said the company has added two dozen apps in a row since launch.

“This pricing update reflects the increased value we have provided to our customers over the past 10 years,” Spataro said in the post.

At the bottom of the scale, basic business plans will increase by 20%, from $ 5 per user to $ 6, while the higher-end versions of the suite will see a smaller increase of 12.5%, from $ 32 to $ 36 per user.

Microsoft has said it is not changing the prices of the consumer or education versions of the software.

Microsoft shares hit a record high on Thursday and last rose 1.8% to $ 295.96.

Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru and Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Arun Koyyur; Editing by David Holmes

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