Microsoft devising Office for netbooks

From InfoWorld: Microsoft is bending its Office franchise toward netbooks and is developing packages that are unique to that market, according to the head of the company's business division.

Speaking at Tuesday's Morgan Stanley Technology Conference, Stephen Elop, president of Microsoft's business division, which oversees Office among other software, said the Wave 14 of Office products would incorporate netbooks into its overall product plans.

"I won't get precise with details, but I think we can do better with netbook attach," said Elop, a member of CEO Steve Ballmer's executive leadership team.

"There are new ways to package and monetize SKUs that are unique to the netbook market. From the Office perspective if someone is spending just a few hundred dollars on a netbook, how much will they spend on productivity software?"

Elop didn't provide an answer to his questions, but he gave an example of how Microsoft has priced Office for various consumers, such as students who at one time could purchase the suite for as low as $69.

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