Microsoft is set to raise the subscription prices of its Microsoft 365 productivity suite in South Africa starting next month. The suite includes popular applications like Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneDrive, catering to professionals and students.
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Customers have received email notifications informing them of the upcoming price increases for Microsoft 365 Basic, Personal, and Family plans. The monthly fee for the Basic subscription will see a 34% hike, rising from R29 to R39. The Personal plan will be 10% more expensive, costing R109 instead of R99. The annual fee for the Personal subscription will increase from R999 to R1,099, while the Family plan will see a jump from R1,299 to R1,499. However, details regarding the price adjustments for the annual Basic plan and monthly Family subscriptions have not been updated on Microsoft’s website yet.
Microsoft cites “changing market conditions” as the reason for these price adjustments without providing further specifics. Customers who do not make changes or cancel their subscription two days prior to their next scheduled payment after August 1, 2023, will be charged the new prices. Those wishing to make changes or cancel their plan can do so by visiting their Microsoft account page, selecting “Services and subscriptions,” and navigating to “Payment & billing.”
It is worth noting that Microsoft previously adjusted the prices for its suite in February 2020 when the exchange rate was around R14 to R15 to the dollar, in contrast to the current rate of approximately R18 to the dollar.
These price changes come shortly after Microsoft increased the prices for its Xbox Game Pass subscription service. The monthly fee for Game Pass for Xbox was raised by 7.59%, from R79 to R85, while Game Pass Ultimate saw a 7.75% increase from R119 to R129.
Additionally, it is anticipated that Microsoft will raise the price of the Xbox Series X in South Africa in the near future, although the distributor Prime Interactive has yet to confirm the new price.
