Mary-Jo Foley recently posted about some announcements about SQL Server 2008 R2 out of the PASS Summit. There will be two new, high-end SKUs of SQL Server 2008 R2, and the prices of Standard and Enterprise Edition are going to be increased somewhat over SQL Server 2008.

Standard: $7,500 (Per Processor), or $100/Server + $162/CAL (a $1,500 increase over SQL 2008 Standard)
Enterprise $28,800 (Per Processor), or $9.900/Server + $162/CAL (a $3,800 increase over SQL 2008 Enterprise)
Datacenter $57,500 (Per Processor), Not offered via Server/CAL (no previous version available)
Parallel Data Warehouse: $57,500 (Per Processor), Not offered via Server/CAL (no previous version available)

These prices are still quite a bargain compared to Oracle, especially since the SQL Server processor licensees are by physical socket, not by core. One theory I have heard (and tend to believe), is that having a lower price actually hurts the perceived value of Microsoft vs. Oracle in some cases. In other words, since Oracle is so much more expensive than SQL Server, that means it must be that much “better”, right?