The Security company raised its product prices this week and users who want to subscribe for another year now have to pay with almost 33% more money.

Last month, when Symantec launched its latest products, Norton AntiVirus, Norton Internet Security, Norton System Works and Norton Personal Firewall, nothing was said about a bigger price. Only this week, on Monday, the company came with a new list of prices for its security software. So, an update for Norton Antivirus is now $29.99, Norton Internet Security costs $39.99, Norton System Works is $29.99 and Norton Personal Firewall is nothing less than $19.99.

Analysts at Merrill Lynch, see this price raise as a last action before Microsoft comes into this security business with its new products. The move could alternatively be “a decisive refusal to be intimidated by a pending market entry,” the analysts wrote. Symantec has 40 million subscribers, and the price rise could bring $250 million to the company’s profit, according to the Merrill Lynch note.

Laura Garcia-Manrique, a senior director of product management at Symantec, states that the price rise has nothing to do with Microsoft’s announcement of entering the security market. “We’ve taken a number of actions, including the increase of our subscription prices…to facilitate our move to a subscription model,” Garcia-Manrique said. Symantec has also cut the upfront price of Norton AntiVirus by $10, she added. “This move on our part is the right move for the market. If Microsoft’s actions in some way change that, then we will have to look at what direction the market goes,” Garcia-Manrique said.