(where 'ver' represents the new software version)
The cost of a software upgrade is based on two factors:
Customers pay a percentage of the software value based upon how recently the system was shipped or previously enjoyed a software update. An example will follow; the rates are:
| 10% for systems that were shipped or updated over 1 year ago |
| 20% for systems over 2 years |
| 30% over 3 years |
| 40% over 4 years |
| 50% over 5 years |
| 75% over 6 years |
If it has been more than 7 years since the system in question was shipped or updated, software upgrades are full price (i.e., 100% of the cost of the software on the system).
An ASTi system is purchased with software valued at $10,000 and shipped to the customer. No software maintenance is purchased with this system. Later, after 25 months in the field, the customer wants to update his system to run ASTi's latest software.
Since the upgrade will be purchased after 2 years of the system's ship date, the price equals 20% of the software value ($10,000): $2,000.
In all of the following part numbers, the ##### placeholder represents a combination of the agreement term in years, the number of systems covered under the agreement and additional information relevant to ASTi's production department.
ASTi offers 4 types of software maintenance agreements:
Pricing for numbers 1 and 2 above starts at 8.5% of a system's software value (at the software's current price and excluding 3rd-party licensing) per year. The percentage decreases as the value of the software on the system increases; contact ASTi for more information.
Pricing for options 3 and 4 above starts at 8.5% of the software value, plus additional charges based on the type and number of support services required by the customer (e.g., remote email/phone support, on-site services by ASTi staff, etc.). Contact ASTi to receive a quote for these maintenance agreements.
An ASTi system is purchased with software valued at $10,000 and the customer also wishes to receive regular software and IA updates for the next 2 years.
One year of maintenance equals 8.5% of the software value ($10,000): $850. Two years, then, costs $1,700.
Note: IA software support or maintenance is available only to U.S. customers.