MUNICH (02/15/2000) - A Swiss government price regulator has launched an investigation of whether prices of Microsoft Corp.'s products are too high in Switzerland.
Swiss Price Inspector Werner Marti began an preliminary investigation of the U.S. software giant in the second half of last year in response to consumer complaints, and has now launched a more in-depth investigation, Marti said today in an interview.
"This project is the focus of our efforts this year," Marti said, referring to the investigation of price differences between the U.S. and Switzerland for most major Microsoft products. He could not say when the investigation would be concluded.
As a component of Switzerland's competition authorities, the price inspector is an official appointed by the Swiss Federal Council who makes sure that competitive pricing reigns in the country. The inspector first seeks to negotiate with those perceived as violating fair pricing, and, barring that, has some powers to order price cuts.
The price inspector only looks at companies with dominant market positions, and thus will not be looking at other software companies, Marti said.
From his preliminary investigations, Marti has found that, generally, software products cost more in Europe than in the U.S., and that such products in Switzerland tend to cost even more than the European average.
In a statement issued yesterday, Microsoft's Swiss subsidiary, Microsoft Schweiz AG, confirmed an investigation by the price inspector, but only of the English-language version of Microsoft Office Professional.
Microsoft Office Professional costs about 15 percent higher in Zurich than in Seattle, Microsoft said. However, the software vendor sees its prices in Switzerland as "fair and justified," when taking into account the higher costs of manufacturing, marketing and selling products in Europe, Microsoft said in the statement.
"Price differences between Switzerland and the U.S. are the rule by most products, and are not surprising," Microsoft said.
Last week, the European Union said it had launched an inquiry of allegations that Microsoft has introduced elements into Windows 2000 designed to help it expand its dominance in an anti-competitive manner. [See "UPDATE - EU Opens Inquiry into Windows 2000," Feb. 9.]Microsoft, in Redmond, Washington, can be reached at +1-425-882-8080 or at http://www.microsoft.com/.