Why Windows XP Starter Edition Fails To Start
Michael Robertson explained in his recent Michael’s Minutes post how underpowered or limited products are not the solution for poor people in poor countries who can’t pay full price for the full product.
To buy the computer, the family would take out a loan for $250-$400 and often assemble their own computer (or have it assembled by friends). They did not buy the cheapest computer available to them, but instead insist on getting a fully functioning computer. To put it another way, they are making a decision to take out a loan that takes several years to repay rather than have a computer “stump”.
Although Michael talks about PC hardware in his post, I think what he explained applies to software as well. And this is why I think Windows XP Starter Edition is not the solution to win marketshare or to fight piracy in poor countries for Microsoft. I explained this problem in my recent article. I also mentioned there what Microsoft needs to do to better address this problem.
Microsoft has one disadvantage compared to the cheap PC case, as explained by Michael Robertson, and that is that contrary to the hardware case, it is possible for those people to find cheaper software that performs almost as well, of not exactly the same, as the more expensive software. Compare Linspire with Windows XP Professional for example. These people can’t possibly consider Windows XP Starter Edition because it contains too many limitations.
So either they will look for cheaper alternatives like Linspire, or they will warez Windows XP Professional. Right now it seems both of those are happening, and I’m not sure which one is more frequent. But in either case Microsoft is losing, and they are losing a lot more in the first case where people choose Linspire.
Instead of losing, they could be winning if they would just sell Windows XP Professional for around $25 in those countries so people there can afford it. They may not be making a lot of money from that, but better $25 and marketshare, than nothing. In addition they should be focussing more on volume in those countries like Brazil, India, China and Russia.
Microsoft needs to seriously look at this problem in the very near future or risk suffering the consequences.
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