Robert Pogson

As if the slump in PC unit sales and the tepid response of markets to “8″ weren’t enough, M$ is nailing its coffin shut from the inside by raising prices…

“As previously announced, all of the above prices end on January 31. Starting in February, all editions of Windows 8 will sell for their full list prices, which means the cheapest Windows 8 upgrade will go for $119.99.

Note, however, that unlike the discounted upgrades offered previously, that price just gets you Windows 8, not Windows 8 Pro. If you want the additional Pro features – including BitLocker encryption, domain connectivity, and Hyper-V virtualization, among others – you’ll need to shell out a little more for the Pro upgrade edition, priced at $199.99.

see Microsoft to end Windows 8 discounts on January 31 • The Register.

For decades, M$ has agonized over finding prices that the market would bear. Now they are trying to compensate for reduced volumes by increasing prices. The death-spiral has commenced. Expect to see major agony in Redmond in 2013. Raising prices on a sluggish product will obviously kill uptake. The rate of decline of the empire will soon increase dramatically. I look forward to next week’s quarterly report. It should be the last one they can suggest business as usual.