Microsoft has announced it will increase prices for a range of enterprise services in the UK. It said the decision was linked to Britain’s vote to leave the European Union and the resulting drop in the pound’s value.Microsoft said Monday it would increase prices for some enterprise services by up to 22 percent in the UK, following the plunge of the pound. Analysts expected the decision to hit thousands of companies and government departments relying on the US firm’s cloud and software products.
Microsoft said it would hike prices for its enterprise software by 13 percent and for its cloud services by 22 percent from January 1, thus becoming the latest tech company to raise fees in the wake of Britain’s vote to leave the EU.
The June 23 pro-Brexit vote has seen sterling falling markedly. The pound is now down 18 percent against the greenback, prompting computer makers such as Apple, Dell and others to increase prices in the UK.
Private consumers not affected
Microsoft has recently turned its focus to mobile and cloud computing, storing, managing and processing data for thousands of companies and public-sector providers.
“We periodically assess the impact of local pricing of our products and services to ensure there is reasonable alignment across the region, and this change is an outcome of this assessment,” Microsoft said to justify the planned price hike.
It hastened to add, though, that it would not change the prices for consumer services and would also not alter prices for existing orders under price protection deals.
A spokeswoman for the British Cabinet Office told Reuters “where we are made aware of proposed price changes for a specific supplier, we will work closely with that supplier to identify ways to mitigate any increases in price.”
hg/jd (dpa, Reuters)
