Microsoft has announced substantial price increases for its Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions across six Asia-Pacific countries, with some users facing hikes of up to 46%.
The price adjustments affect customers in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand, who were notified of the changes via email last week. In Australia, the Family subscription has jumped from AU$139 to AU$179 annually, marking a 29% increase. Personal subscription holders face an even steeper rise, with prices climbing from AU$109 to AU$159 - a 46% increase.
Microsoft attributes these price adjustments to its ongoing investment in artificial intelligence features. The company states that the higher fees will help position their customers at the forefront of AI technology integration within Microsoft's suite of applications.
The tech giant points to various improvements made over the past 12 years to justify the price hike, including enhanced security through Microsoft Defender, creative tools like Clipchamp, and updates to core applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook. New AI-powered features like Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft Designer are also cited as added value for subscribers.
Currently, the price increases appear to be limited to the six mentioned countries, with other regions maintaining their existing rates. For example, UK pricing remains unchanged at £59.99 for Personal and £79.99 for Family subscriptions. However, Microsoft has not clarified whether similar price adjustments will be implemented in other markets in the future.
This marks one of the largest price increases for Microsoft's consumer subscription services, particularly impacting individual users who rely on the Personal plan for their productivity needs.