Microsoft has cut the price of Windows 8.1 by nearly three-fourths to device makers who produce lower-cost laptops and tablets



From Computerworld:

Citing sources who asked not to be named, Bloomberg said that licenses for Windows 8.1, normally $50, would instead cost OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) just $15. The discounted licenses would only be available for hardware that sold for less than $250.

The steep discount -- 70% less than the usual price, half that of the lowest price when Microsoft co-marketing money was included in the equation -- was a reaction to cheap rivals to Windows hardware, particularly Chromebooks powered by Google's free-to-OEMs browser-based Chrome OS, Bloomberg said.

  Microsoft tries to jumpstart cheap Windows devices with license price cut