In a bid to entice home office consumers, Borland Canada has unveiled a sharp price decrease, effective until January, on single-user versions of its Quattro Pro spreadsheet program.

Quattro Pro 5.0 for Windows is available at a suggested retail price of $70.95.

That is about $50 less than its usual suggested retail price, says Bev Buckton, marketing communications manager for Borland.

Buckton says the pricing strategy is designed to call attention Quattro Pro, which he describes as ‘the most advanced spreadsheet on the market.’

In particular, Borland is hoping to catch the eye of consumers in the rapidly expanding home office segment.

Buckton explains that home office users ‘represent a key growth area for spreadsheet marketers,’ and Borland is determined to gain a healthy share of the business.

He says that in light of the precipitous fall in hardware prices over the last couple of years, there is no reason why software prices should not fall as well.

In July, Lotus Development released version 4.0 of its Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet with a suggested retail price of $599.

Microsoft’s Excel spreadsheet sells for about the same.

Buckton says he does not believe home office users will have much trouble deciding which spreadsheet offers the best value.

Quattro Pro is also available in a version configured for use in work group environments. The program is called Quattro Pro 5.0 Workgroup Edition and sells for a suggested retail price of $646.

According to Buckland, Microsoft Excel is the market leader in spreadsheet sales in Canada with about a 50% share.

He says Quattro Pro ranks No. 2, with 25% to 30%, while Lotus 1-2-3 is third with 20% to 25%.