Microsoft (Thailand), the local operating unit of the world's largest software maker, is planning its biggest increase in marketing spending this year to promote its new Windows 10 operating system, which launched internationally on Wednesday.
The US-based company is offering its genuine Windows 7 and 8.1 customers a free upgrade to Windows 10 for the first time. The free offer is expected to attract a greater customer base for higher revenue opportunities from online services, similar to the strategy of its rivals Apple and Google, which provide free operating systems in exchange for a significant user base.
The surge in mobile phone use has severely affected sales of personal computers (PCs), leading to a sharp drop in Microsoft's Windows market share.
Globally, Microsoft aims for 1 billion of its existing 1.5 billion Windows-based devices to migrate to Windows 10 by 2018.
"Windows 10 will change the IT usage landscape as the operating platform can support both personal and business use. It can also serve mobile and cloud technologies," said Ekaraj Pankavinin, consumer channel group director of Microsoft (Thailand).
The main goal of Windows 10 is to unify the Windows operating system across multiple Microsoft product families, such as PCs, tablets and smartphones.
Unlike previous versions of Windows, Microsoft provided a new pricing model for Windows 10: as a service that allows users to get free upgrades and receive new features at no charge for the "supported lifetime" of the device upon which it is installed.
Rachod Isarankura Na Ayuthaya, the group leader for Windows client business of Microsoft (Thailand), said Windows users has a year, until July 28, 2016, to get the free upgrade. The operating system is advertised as free for the lifetime of the device.
Based on numbers provided by StatCounter, a free web traffic analysis service provider, 67% of PC and tablet users in Thailand use Windows 7 or 8. It estimated Thailand's PC sales totalled 8.6 million units during 2013-15.
Jarit Sidhu, senior analyst of IDC (Thailand), said the move by Microsoft marked a major change to its business model as the company looked to gain more users and a greater variety of devices. But he said Windows 10 would still not stimulate new computer spending in the country this year because of the unfavourable economic environment and high local piracy rate.
IDC expects sales of PCs in Thailand to remain at 2.5 million units in 2015, equal to last year's figure. Of the total, 1.2 million will be notebooks and 1.3 million desktop computers.