Fri Mar 05 2010, 04:22
SOFTWARE IMPERIALIST
Microsoft intends to stick to its guns and keep its empire running in
China despite Google's diplomatic shenanigans, according to Reuters.We reported last month that the usually foot-in-mouth prone Steve Ballmer was surprisingly circumspect when Google said it would cease operations in China. The Vole's CEO called the incident a "Google Problem" that didn't affect any other companies with interests in the Chinese market.
In an interview with Reuters, Zhang Yaqin, chairman of Microsoft's Asia-Pacific R&D group, said Microsoft is in China for the long haul. He said, "Regardless of whether or not Google stays, we will aggressively promote our search and cloud computing in China."
"We hope to achieve a relatively important place in the China search market. We hope to achieve a relatively important place in the China search market. But we must be very patient; we still need a lot of time," he said.
Microsoft has a big promotion job to do with its own search technologies and a reinvigorated mobile software business if it wants to exploit the critical success of Window Phone 7 Series. If the Vole wants to spend about £331.1 million on research and development in China this year it needs to make sure someone is willing to take its cash.