"Intuit Cuts Pricing, Kills QuickBooks Basic"

Summary: Intuit is removing QB Basic from the line-up in favor of the more popular QB SimpleStart product. The reason given by Brad Smith is that they are reducing customer confusion by simplifying the overall product line. I'll buy that.

Additionally, Intuit cut pricing on Pro and Premier by $100, making Pro now $199. Smith summarized the pricing change using the following words:

"We call it customer-driven innovation. What we found is a big pain point for people when they upgraded from one QuickBooks version to another. They didn't like the hassle of the rebate process to save $100."

"While Intuit acknowledges the presence of Microsoft Small Business Accounting and Microsoft's overall market influence, it [SBA] had no impact on Intuit's pricing decisions. Brad Smith, general manager of QuickBooks said" [bolding by sbaguru]

Source: http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/news/article.php/3552471