A pay-per-use, life-long software is now less and less, and even Microsoft is embracing the subscription system. The company’s latest move is to remove Office 2019 from the Home Licensing Program (HUP) and want to use it. Users of this component can only join the subscribed Office 365.

The Home Licensing Program is a discount offered by Microsoft for businesses. Eligible employees can purchase Office Small Business Edition 2019 or Project Professional 2019 and Visio Professional 2019 at a discounted price. For example, Office 2019 is only $15, which is more than normal. The price is much cheaper.

However, Microsoft’s official website has quietly removed Office 20 recently.19 Home and Enterprise Editions, replaced by a 30% discount to Office 365, the difference between the two can be simply summarized as the former is a one-time buyout, the subsequent can not be upgraded; the latter needs to pay annually, can be continuously updated and upgraded, personal version of the year The fee is $48.99.

This change is also confirmed in the “Frequently Asked Questions” section of the official website: “HUP will no longer offer Office ProPlus 2019, Office 2019 Home Edition/Enterprise Edition.” However, the Office 2019 purchased before is still valid.

The subscription system has been widely accepted in the streaming media industry. Foreign Netflix, Spotify, domestic iQiyi, Tencent music, etc. have cultivated the user’s payment habits with high-quality content. In the application field, monthly, quarterly Or the annual payment method has begun to become mainstream, such as password management tool 1Password, accounting tool MoneyWiz, writing tool Ulysses, etc. have begun to turn to subscription fees, the largest company in this regard is the most complete is Adobe, the company from 2013 Since the beginning of the year, the stand-alone version of the software has not been released, and the subscription system has been completely changed.

Maybe considering the user’s acceptance, Microsoft has not adopted a “one size fits all” approach, and has always retained the stand-alone version of Office, but it is clear that the subscription of Office 365 is now Microsoft’s main product.

For companies, the subscription system clearly creates higher profits and sustained cash flow than a one-time buyout, and Adobe has achieved rapid growth in its subscription to post-production revenue. Microsoft’s FY 2019 Productivity and Business Process Division The revenue is as high as $11 billion, and the Office 365 business, which has grown 31%, has contributed a lot. Of course, this also puts higher demands on the company. In order for users to continue to pay, the continuous innovation and competitiveness of the products are crucial. After all, Google’s productivity suite is basically free.

However, for consumers, the cost of continuous payment is obviously higher than the one-time buyout, especially in a market like China that has begun to accept payment for applications. It is difficult to convince users to switch to subscription. . At present, the HUP program of Microsoft China official website still provides the purchase of Office 2019 Enterprise Edition, but according to this trend, it is also a matter of time.

The title map is from: Microsoft