German software giant SAP is offering deep discounts to customers currently running customer relationship management (CRM) software from rival Siebel, following Oracle’s acqusition of Siebel. The move offers companies a way to migrate to SAP with up to 75% of … Read More
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Samsung to Pay $300M Pricing-Fixing Fine
Samsung agreed to a $300M fine for price fixing in the DRAM market. “Competitors” Hynix and Infineon have already paid almost $350M in related fines between them. From a cynical perspective, this fines probably pale in comparison to the extra … Read More
Medicare Guide Has Pricing Error
A guide to changes in Medicare that the government is mailing to 42 million homes contains an important pricing error, the Chicago Tribune reported yesterday. The guide mistakenly suggests that people have access to a number of programs at no … Read More
Retailers Expect Tough Pricing Season
The New York Times (free registration required) posted Let the Price Wars Begin, noting that higher gas prices are cutting into the budgets of many shoppers. This has prompted retailers like Wal-Mart to price aggressively very early in the “holiday” … Read More
Employee Pricing Superlatives Turn to Expletives
I feel like I’m beating a dead horse here, but it’s such an expensive dead horse that it deserves another post. Yes, GM and Ford announced sharp reductions in year-on-year September sales, canceling out gains from the Employee Pricing Programs … Read More
Microsoft Updates Software Assurance Program
The Redmond giant made several changes to its Software Assurance licensing program, under which users pay a subscription fee and receive upgrades for free. Microsoft made introduce SA in 2001, and despite the relatively high costs, managed to convince a … Read More
The Danger of Pushing Margin per Transaction too Far
Something to lighten up your Monday… This piece neatly illustrates the logical extreme of following the pricing consultant’s insistence that fewer transactions at higher margin is better.
Next Gen Price Comparison Sites
An alert reader sent in this WSJ article on The Next Generation of Price-Comparison Sites. Price comparison websites are almost as old as the internet as a commerce medium. The idea is that the internet would facilitate an Adam-Smith-like perfect … Read More
Justice Dept Sues Realtors
An alert reader in New York City sent in a link to this Wall Street Journal article, U.S. Sues Realtors, Claims Web Rules Limit Discounting. The suit alleges illegal restriction of competition, which in turn costs consumers substantial amounts of … Read More
Big 3 Vow End to Employee Discounts
GM plans to end the popular discount program on September 30, while Ford and DaimlerChrysler will end their on October 3. The programs led to surging sales and cleared out 2005 inventory, but did little to boost the bottom line. … Read More