Author Topic: Altium Price Rises  (Read 25136 times)

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

Offline EEVblogTopic starter

  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 37661
  • Country: au
    • EEVblog
Altium Price Rises
« on: June 01, 2022, 12:19:02 am »
Email to customers.
Quote
Thank you for being an Altium customer. We appreciate your business, and we hope you are creating some of your best PCB designs yet.

I’m contacting you to let you know about Altium pricing changes that will be coming up in July. As we are all aware, market conditions are driving up costs for businesses worldwide. Unfortunately, Altium is no exception. Due to increasing costs, prices on Altium products will be increasing on July 1, 2022.

We understand that price increases are never ideal and we try to avoid them as much as possible. We also always try to make them as modest as possible. Please know that we are 100% committed to delivering the world’s best PCB design experience, and as a result of this increase, we will be able to continue to invest in Altium Designer, Altium 365, and all of our products that empower you and your teams to deliver outstanding electronics designs.
 
Because the increase goes into effect on July 1, all orders placed before then will be honored at today’s rates. If you have any current or foreseen needs, I would be happy to discuss options for locking in today’s pricing now.

I get that inflation is happening, but what "costs" are increasing for a 100% software company like Altium?
 

Online ataradov

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 11228
  • Country: us
    • Personal site
Re: Altium Price Rises
« Reply #1 on: June 01, 2022, 12:33:58 am »
Salaries are probably the biggest part. And just grabbing some extra cash while you can does not hurt either, I guess.

They know that some people have their stuff deeply in the design process and the cost of switching is high, so they can do whatever they want to an extent.
Alex
 
The following users thanked this post: Warhawk, ANTALIFE

Offline SpacedCowboy

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 292
  • Country: gb
  • Aging physicist
Re: Altium Price Rises
« Reply #2 on: June 01, 2022, 01:57:16 am »
Glad I just bought a permanent license :)
 
The following users thanked this post: boB

Offline Bud

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 6877
  • Country: ca
Re: Altium Price Rises
« Reply #3 on: June 01, 2022, 02:10:25 am »
Can we expect this type of apology from Altium

https://youtu.be/VC66uGR2WFo
Facebook-free life and Rigol-free shack.
 
The following users thanked this post: Ysjoelfir

Offline free_electron

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 8515
  • Country: us
    • SiliconValleyGarage
Re: Altium Price Rises
« Reply #4 on: June 01, 2022, 02:45:20 am »
They have a bunch of developers in Ukraine .... get it ?
Professional Electron Wrangler.
Any comments, or points of view expressed, are my own and not endorsed , induced or compensated by my employer(s).
 
The following users thanked this post: SeanB

Offline EEVblogTopic starter

  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 37661
  • Country: au
    • EEVblog
Re: Altium Price Rises
« Reply #5 on: June 01, 2022, 07:09:35 am »
They have a bunch of developers in Ukraine .... get it ?

Last I heard the majority of the PCB group was in the Ukraine. I wonder how they are doing?
They went there after the China debacle.
 

Offline EEVblogTopic starter

  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 37661
  • Country: au
    • EEVblog
Re: Altium Price Rises
« Reply #6 on: June 01, 2022, 07:11:55 am »
Salaries are probably the biggest part. And just grabbing some extra cash while you can does not hurt either, I guess.
They know that some people have their stuff deeply in the design process and the cost of switching is high, so they can do whatever they want to an extent.

Yep, I expect salires are by far the biggest cost. Would be interesting to know how much it's actually increased.
Pure software companies are usually in a way better position to control and hold prices than hardware companies are.
Never let a good crisis go to waste of course.
Not sure why they even bothered to email customers, don't Altium prices go up and down like a yo-yo anyway?
 

Online voltsandjolts

  • Supporter
  • ****
  • Posts: 2277
  • Country: gb
Re: Altium Price Rises
« Reply #7 on: June 01, 2022, 09:51:15 am »
My sub/maintenance for perpetual license is due this month, it's up to GBP1700+VAT. Hmm.
As noted above, they may well have extra costs due to business disruption in Ukraine.
If they are indeed supporting jobs there, it makes me inclined to renew.
« Last Edit: June 01, 2022, 10:17:56 am by voltsandjolts »
 

Offline JPortici

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 3452
  • Country: it
Re: Altium Price Rises
« Reply #8 on: June 01, 2022, 10:53:02 am »
The whole diptrace team is based in ukraine  :-// but AFAIK they haven't updated the pricing nor stopped developing (developing process has slowed down for obvious reasons)
 
The following users thanked this post: voltsandjolts

Offline jeremy

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 1079
  • Country: au
Re: Altium Price Rises
« Reply #9 on: June 01, 2022, 11:30:09 am »
Not sure why they even bothered to email customers, don't Altium prices go up and down like a yo-yo anyway?

I would say in recent memory it has been only “yo” rather than “yo-yo” ;)

With respect to the email, although the inflation is real, I don’t think they really care that much about informing their customers of price rises. It is more of a sneaky sales tactic I think; I have seen many companies do this throughout COVID.

Basically, announce that prices are going up at a certain date, encourage people to buy in before that date to save money, ie an appeal to FOMO. Only catch is that I’ve seen a bunch of companies do sales a few months later at the original price…
 
The following users thanked this post: SeanB

Online tszaboo

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 7306
  • Country: nl
  • Current job: ATEX product design
Re: Altium Price Rises
« Reply #10 on: June 01, 2022, 12:20:43 pm »
I got the info that the subscription is a 5% increase, which is below inflation. IMHO it's OK, since someone else is paying for it, and the subscription price was some made up number in the first place.
 

Offline ajb

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2582
  • Country: us
Re: Altium Price Rises
« Reply #11 on: June 01, 2022, 03:25:46 pm »
I get that inflation is happening, but what "costs" are increasing for a 100% software company like Altium?

Well, one of their sales reps told me that the US$4k subscription lapse penalty is because that's just what it "costs" to add users back to the subscription server (OW, updating a row in a database?) so I'm not sure there's any strong correlation between costs and price where Altium is concerned.

I would hope that the real answer is developer salaries, but as a user that doesn't mean much if the end product doesn't show any apparent development in the parts that matter to me.
 

Offline jc101

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 613
  • Country: gb
Re: Altium Price Rises
« Reply #12 on: June 01, 2022, 03:33:30 pm »
I'll probably drop out of maintenance when it expires in December, I'll download the full installer just before it expires and stick with that.  Just too expensive to keep going.
 

Online JohnG

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 567
  • Country: us
Re: Altium Price Rises
« Reply #13 on: June 01, 2022, 06:46:14 pm »
This, combined with generally unsatisfactory treatment by the salesforce, is the reason that my manager and I decided today to do a simple, but real, design in KiCad to see how it goes. It is an iteration of a standard design that we understand very well, so any challenges should become clear.

John
"Reality is that which, when you quit believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick (RIP).
 

Offline Doctorandus_P

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 3321
  • Country: nl
Re: Altium Price Rises
« Reply #14 on: June 01, 2022, 08:11:30 pm »
I decided today to do a simple, but real, design in KiCad to see how it goes.

If you run into trouble, lots of friendly people on the KiCad forum:
https://forum.kicad.info/
And if you wish, there is even commercial support available:
https://www.kipro-pcb.com/
 
The following users thanked this post: Warhawk, I wanted a rude username

Offline thm_w

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 6272
  • Country: ca
  • Non-expert
Re: Altium Price Rises
« Reply #15 on: June 01, 2022, 09:17:25 pm »
This, combined with generally unsatisfactory treatment by the salesforce, is the reason that my manager and I decided today to do a simple, but real, design in KiCad to see how it goes. It is an iteration of a standard design that we understand very well, so any challenges should become clear.

John

Do you have a license already?

I don't get people that have an Altium license and complain about subscription costs. Just get a perpetual license and don't pay subscription if its an issue.
Profile -> Modify profile -> Look and Layout ->  Don't show users' signatures
 
The following users thanked this post: nctnico

Offline free_electron

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 8515
  • Country: us
    • SiliconValleyGarage
Re: Altium Price Rises
« Reply #16 on: June 02, 2022, 02:41:16 am »
This, combined with generally unsatisfactory treatment by the salesforce, is the reason that my manager and I decided today to do a simple, but real, design in KiCad to see how it goes. It is an iteration of a standard design that we understand very well, so any challenges should become clear.

John

Do you have a license already?

I don't get people that have an Altium license and complain about subscription costs. Just get a perpetual license and don't pay subscription if its an issue.
Altium licenses are perpetual. The subscription is only so you keep getting updates. When subscription stops you are frozen at the last version/service pack you paid for. it keeps working.
Professional Electron Wrangler.
Any comments, or points of view expressed, are my own and not endorsed , induced or compensated by my employer(s).
 

Offline SpacedCowboy

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 292
  • Country: gb
  • Aging physicist
Re: Altium Price Rises
« Reply #17 on: June 02, 2022, 03:17:30 am »
Altium licenses are perpetual. The subscription is only so you keep getting updates. When subscription stops you are frozen at the last version/service pack you paid for. it keeps working.

Really ? Because that’s not how the rep explained it to me. A yearly subscription is about $4k, and expires after 1 year. The perpetual license is ~$11k, and includes 1 year of subs that doesn’t stop working after a year, but you don’t get updates past that year unless you pay for another yearly subs.

I’m pretty sure you don’t have to buy the initial permanent license - you can just keep paying $4k/year and it’ll stop working on the 12 month anniversary… I’ll be very annoyed if I’ve just coughed up $12k when $4k would get me the same end result…
 

Offline EEVblogTopic starter

  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 37661
  • Country: au
    • EEVblog
Re: Altium Price Rises
« Reply #18 on: June 02, 2022, 03:41:06 am »
This, combined with generally unsatisfactory treatment by the salesforce, is the reason that my manager and I decided today to do a simple, but real, design in KiCad to see how it goes. It is an iteration of a standard design that we understand very well, so any challenges should become clear.

John

Do you have a license already?

I don't get people that have an Altium license and complain about subscription costs. Just get a perpetual license and don't pay subscription if its an issue.
Altium licenses are perpetual. The subscription is only so you keep getting updates. When subscription stops you are frozen at the last version/service pack you paid for. it keeps working.

I'm currently locked out of Altium Designer because my license expired.
 

Offline jeremy

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 1079
  • Country: au
Re: Altium Price Rises
« Reply #19 on: June 02, 2022, 06:30:21 am »
a "friend" of mine had a "perpetual" license for Altium but no subscription. Altium changed some of their server side stuff with respect to parts searching that broke in older versions of Altium. The support response was basically just "oh your subscription ran out? money please"
 

Offline Gerhard_dk4xp

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 322
  • Country: de
Re: Altium Price Rises
« Reply #20 on: June 02, 2022, 07:51:44 am »
I did it the other way around, 2016,  file-based -eternal

Me:   My AD is crashing here during start-up. DID work yesterday.
AD:  You have a paid subscription, but we won't help you since you are running VMware.
         They cannot handle networks.
Me:   Looks like I have to help myself.  [ take a new virtual machine from Backup disk ]
AD:   [ a few months later ]    It's time for the next 1600 €!
Me:   No!

It turned out that I had renamed an old library from .lib to .schlib to free the extension
.lib for association with a different program.

VMware CAN do networks. It is their core business.
AD makes not even the slightest plausibility checks when reading files.

I just witnessed a spam campaign before the end of the second quarter to renew.
The wording is as if I had no valid license. I renewed in 2020 to note that
everything is different, new bugs, tries to link me to their cloud but nothing that
is of interest to me. Cancelled again.

Gerhard
« Last Edit: June 02, 2022, 08:15:16 am by Gerhard_dk4xp »
 

Offline PKTKS

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 1766
  • Country: br
Re: Altium Price Rises
« Reply #21 on: June 02, 2022, 08:50:32 am »
It sounds to me like CLOUD besides meaning someone's else RACK now mean someone's else pockets as well

Paul
 
The following users thanked this post: rmaranhao

Offline nctnico

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 26751
  • Country: nl
    • NCT Developments
Re: Altium Price Rises
« Reply #22 on: June 02, 2022, 11:59:27 am »
So my main concern is what grim fate may befall to people without subscriptions but "perpetual" licenses if at some point Altium goes out of business, gets sold, or otherwise fails to keep up the cloud licensing system.
Isn't that the other way around? With a perpetual license you are safe; software won't stop working. Even better would be to have a dongle like Orcad has. But you can likely get a cracked copy in case your computer breaks and Altium isn't available to transfer the license to a different machine.
There are small lies, big lies and then there is what is on the screen of your oscilloscope.
 

Online JohnG

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 567
  • Country: us
Re: Altium Price Rises
« Reply #23 on: June 02, 2022, 12:20:38 pm »

Do you have a license already?

I don't get people that have an Altium license and complain about subscription costs. Just get a perpetual license and don't pay subscription if its an issue.

We have a number of licenses. Our company is growing, and our usage has been increasing.

If you want or need any flexibility at all, you pay more. Want to move a license, you pay. Want to keep your versions sync'd, you upgrade. What's that, you didn't pay back maintenance? Oh, then you can pay all the annual back maintenance, then pay even more to upgrade. Want some flexibility, pay more for a floating license. What's that, you want to use your floating license at a remote site? That'll cost you more! Overseas, even more again!! Got a problem, found a bug? You're doing it wrong...

Maybe sticking to an old perpetual licensed version of Altium works in your situation, but it doesn't work for us.

John
"Reality is that which, when you quit believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick (RIP).
 

Offline Jester

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 859
  • Country: ca
Re: Altium Price Rises
« Reply #24 on: June 02, 2022, 12:34:33 pm »
Years ago we had a well known Ivy League marketing consultant spend a few days at our company to give the engineering management a crash course on marketing. One of the first things he told us was that we had to get the idea out of our heads that the selling price of something has any relationship to the cost of producing / developing / providing the product or service. The selling price is simply what the market is willing to pay.
 


Share me

Digg  Facebook  SlashDot  Delicious  Technorati  Twitter  Google  Yahoo
Smf