Microsoft confirmed yesterday that they have cut prices of Windows 8 and Windows RT licenses to hardware partners building smaller sized tablets as an incentive to drive sales.

Analysts have been discussing if the cuts are enough to dramatically lower tablet prices and drive sales and are unsure if Office is a big attraction for consumers, who purchase the highest percentage of tablets.

The Wall Street Journal published an article saying that Nick Parker, the head of Microsoft's OEM division said the company has expanded its discount from Windows 8 only to also include Windows RT, a platform that has only met with a lukewarm reception so far. He confirmed this at The Computex trade show in Taipei.

The licensing price cuts will target OEMS who build tablets with screens between 7 inch and 10.1 inches. Microsoft have not released details of the discount to selected partners.

Microsoft are also bundling Office Home and Student 2013 with Windows 8 on the smaller tablets – according to Tami Reller, The CFO of the Windows Group.

Computerworld add “Windows RT has always been accompanied by Office Home & Student RT, a collection of Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint and Word, but Windows 8 has not had a similar free offering. Office Home & Student 2013 features the same four applications — like Office RT, it lacks the Outlook email client, a must-have for business users — and like its RT offshoot, is not licensed for commercial, aka workplace, purposes.

The bundles will also be included in new devices running Windows 8.1, the update for both Windows 8 and Windows RT that Microsoft will launch later this year.”

Kitguru says: Is the move strong enough to improve their sales figures?

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