Why does Apple give free OS X Mavericks upgrade?

Instead of earning an inadequate profit from operating system upgrades, Apple will make a profit from buying and selling apps on the App Store and services like iCloud or iTunes Match .

Along with the launch of the iPad Air and iPad Mini , on October 22 night, Apple introduced the new OS X 10.9 Mavericks operating system version on its Mac computers. What surprised many people was that for the first time, Apple allowed users to use the new version of the operating system for free.

Why does Apple give free OS X Mavericks upgrade? Picture 1
OS X Mavericks operating system is provided by Apple for free.

Previously, Apple always charged for its operating system upgrades. Users must pay 129 USD for the first OS X 10 version. Next, to upgrade to OS X 10.7 Lion version, users have to pay 29 USD and most recently to upgrade to version 10.8 Mountain Lion, users will have to spend 19.99 USD.

Meanwhile, Linux is always free, and Microsoft has recently allowed Windows 8 users to upgrade to Windows 8.1 for free . Besides, the fact that mobile operating systems are always free of charge for carriers is a sign that the operating system fee for PC operating system has come to an end.

In recent years, the traditional PC market is plummeting without braking. Meanwhile, the money that companies like Apple make from selling hardware devices and online services is more than double that of selling operating system versions.

Therefore, the provision of Apple's operating system is mainly to encourage users to buy hardware and to spend more money on digital services such as iColud, iTunes Match or to buy apps on the App Store rather than sell these operating systems themselves.

Selling operating system software can help Apple increase revenue. However, Apple's biggest revenue comes from selling iPhones and iPads. Therefore, selling operating system versions would be a mistake."Now, when customers invest in Apple's hardware, they will be assured that their devices will get free software upgrades in the future," said Ben Bajarin, an independent analyst.

And that's what's important, because instead of earning an insignificant profit from upgrading the operating system, Apple will make money from buying and selling apps on the App Store and services like iCloud or iTunes Match .

Many say that the free upgrade will be a new model for operating systems on PCs and Apple is again becoming the trend leader.

In the case of Microsoft, Apple's move to a free operating system release model will put enormous pressure on them. Microsoft's revenue comes largely from OEM licensing contracts for Windows operating systems, which account for 65% of Microsoft's 19 million revenue from Windows.

'It will be difficult for Microsoft to update the operating system to become free. However, the market changes very quickly and Microsoft will have no other option. Or follow the market trend or be left behind , 'said Al Gillen, an analyst from IDC .

'I believe Microsoft will quickly adapt to this new trend. Therefore, it is not surprising that updating the operating system on the PC from Microsoft and Apple will be low or even free. '