Sun Microsystems will begin offering its StarOffice 7 suite of office productivity applications on a one-year subscription from next month for users in Japan, said the company.
One-year licensed versions of the software will be offered by local distributor Sourcenext for ¥1,980 (US$18.60) through Internet download, retail stores and also convenience stores, said Yoshiyuki Tanaka, a spokesman for Sun's Japan unit. It's the first time such a pricing scheme has been offered for the software in any market, said Sun.
When the licence expires users of the software will have the option to either renew the licence or discontinue paying. In the case of the latter the software will lock up and remain unusable until a new licence has been purchased, he said.
The conventional version of the software, which is called StarSuite 7 in Japan and other East Asian markets, with a licence that does not expire, will continue to be available for ¥9,800, said Tanaka.
Market share figures for the software were not available from Sun although the company said Sourcenext sold a total of 30,000 copies of the suite in 2003. The market leader in Japan is Microsoft's Office suite, which is available preinstalled on many personal computers.
News source: Techworld - Sun to try subscription pricing for StarOffice
One-year licensed versions of the software will be offered by local distributor Sourcenext for ¥1,980 (US$18.60) through Internet download, retail stores and also convenience stores, said Yoshiyuki Tanaka, a spokesman for Sun's Japan unit. It's the first time such a pricing scheme has been offered for the software in any market, said Sun.
When the licence expires users of the software will have the option to either renew the licence or discontinue paying. In the case of the latter the software will lock up and remain unusable until a new licence has been purchased, he said.
The conventional version of the software, which is called StarSuite 7 in Japan and other East Asian markets, with a licence that does not expire, will continue to be available for ¥9,800, said Tanaka.
Market share figures for the software were not available from Sun although the company said Sourcenext sold a total of 30,000 copies of the suite in 2003. The market leader in Japan is Microsoft's Office suite, which is available preinstalled on many personal computers.
News source: Techworld - Sun to try subscription pricing for StarOffice
POSITIVE IN LONGER TERM
Chia declined to name the products that the advanced chips would be used in, citing confidentiality agreements. Analysts said the chips could be used in personal computers with higher processing speeds and handsets.
Analysts said the deal would be positive for Chartered in the longer term.
"We would expect a small contribution to Chartered's revenues from these 90 nanometre chips in 2005," said Kim Eng Ong Asia Securities analyst Dharmo Soejanto.
Chartered, reeling from three straight years of losses, has said it would post a narrower loss of US$40 to US$48 million for the October to December period, on a 28 to 30 percent rise in revenues from the third quarter. The company will report its results on January 30.
Shares of Chartered more than doubled in 2003 on market anticipation of an upturn in the global semiconductor industry. The stock was down 1.6 percent at S$1.86 on Thursday, against a 0.3 percent fall in the main index.
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