Microsoft struggles in emerging markets
C|Net | at | by Mike
Microsoft knows its sales model for emerging markets around the world isn't working. But just how to fix that model isn't clear, company executives said this week. "We haven't gotten this figured out," said Matthew Price, a senior director in Microsoft's Windows Client unit said in a panel discussion at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC). "There's lots of work to be done."
Emerging markets are important to Microsoft, and to its PC-maker customers, because they represent a large, untapped source of new revenue. Four countries in particular--Brazil, Russia, India and China--have less than 10 percent PC penetration today, as compared to roughly 60 percent in the United States. Currently, those developing areas contribute just a tiny fraction of Microsoft's overall sales.