Microsoft has services which span a range of industries from gaming, to productivity, to communications. A single package deal could be purchased for $199 a year which includes Office 365 Home, Xbox Live, Xbox Music, and Unlimited Skype World + WiFi. Now Microsoft is giving that package a price cut of $50, which brings the price to $149 making the savings even more enticing.
Calculating the savings of this new deal really depends on which of these services you use. For an individual who uses Skype to call non-Skype numbers, uses Office, listens to Xbox Music, and has an Xbox to use Xbox Live, then this is a great deal. However, most people don’t use Skype to call anything but people using the Skype apps, and the percentage of people paying for Office 365 for themselves and Xbox Live is probably not a large number. Finally, Xbox Music is a great service, but usually loses out to Spotify, Pandora, or old fashioned MP3s.
The real target for this package could be people using some of Microsoft’s technology but not all of it. Simplifying the billing process and saving money over all can be enough to sway users to use Microsoft’s solutions. It is also worth noting that the Office 365 Home subscription included enables five separate users to have unlimited OneDrive storage and the Office desktop applications. The real winners of this deal are the people who already use two or three of these, so the deal would save them money, and give them access to another service.
Additionally Microsoft has included Skype WiFi in this package. This seems like a small addition, but for anyone who travels and is forced to pay for WiFi this could be a life saver. It is not immediately clear, but it would seem that the Skype WiFi offered here is unique to this Work + Play package which gives people free and unlimited access to WiFi hotspots which Skype has partnered with. The app on the all different devices will give locations of where these hotspots can be used.
Here are the potential savings of this bundle, which can only be purchased for $149 at a physical Microsoft store
- 1 Year Skype World Unlimited = $167.88
- 1 Year Office 365 Home = $99
- 1 Year Xbox Music = $99
- 1 Year Xbox Live = $59.99
- Total cost = $425.87
- Total savings = $276.87