The UK"s referendum decision to exit the European Union has already had an effect on the country"s economy, despite the fact that the act of doing so is still very much in the planning stages. Uncertainty surrounding the implications for the United Kingdom quickly pushed the pound sterling to a 31-year-low against the US dollar, and while it has since recovered some of its value, sterling remains far weaker than before the Brexit poll.
For many international companies, which manage their operations in US dollars, that"s increased the cost of doing business in the UK. In October, Microsoft raised some of its enterprise product prices by up to 22% due to those currency changes, but resisted the urge to increase its prices for consumers, until now.
Earlier today, the company raised its Surface Book prices there by £150 - a move that will likely impact the cost of its new Performance Base models, which are due to launch in the UK in the next few weeks. But it"s not just the Surface Book - Microsoft has also increased the cost of all Surface Pro 4 models, with the exception of its entry-level version.
| Model | Previous price | New price | Increase |
| Intel Core i5 4GB RAM / 128GB SSD | £849 | £949 | £100 (12%) |
| Intel Core i5 8GB RAM / 256GB SSD | £1,079 | £1,099 | £20 (2%) |
| Intel Core i7 8GB RAM / 256GB SSD | £1,299 | £1,369 | £70 (5%) |
| Intel Core i7 16GB RAM / 256GB SSD | £1,449 | £1,549 | £100 (7%) |
| Intel Core i7 16GB RAM / 512GB SSD | £1,799 | £1,899 | £100 (5.5%) |
| Intel Core i7 16GB RAM / 1TB SSD | £2,199 | £2,359 | £160 (7%) |
While Microsoft did not change the cost of the entry-level model in the UK, that was actually the one area of the Surface Pro 4 range that needed some attention. Bizarrely, the company is continuing to charge the same price - £749 - for the Core m3 model both with and without the Surface Pen, despite offering the "no pen" model with a $100 discount in the United States.
Microsoft isn"t the only technology company to raise its UK prices as a result of currency changes following the Brexit referendum last year. Other examples include:
- Apple (App Store price hike of 25%)
- Dell (10%)
- HP (10%)
- HTC (Vive price increase of 10%)
- OnePlus (6.5%)
Earlier this week, Sonos announced that it will increase its UK prices by up to 25% from February 23, saying that its "existing pricing has become unsustainable".