Microsoft: Censorship, piracy hold up trade
Seattle PI | at | by Mike
For Microsoft, China represents a large opportunity that has so far been unfulfilled because of the extraordinarily high rate of software piracy in the country -- more than 90 percent.
That's not the only challenge Microsoft faces in China. Along with other U.S. Internet service providers, the company has been criticized for complying with online censorship by the Chinese government.
And in a court case last year, former Microsoft executive Kai-Fu Lee said the company bungled its China strategy by focusing on quick profits, rather than on building the relationships needed to succeed. But others point to Microsoft's creation of a Beijing research lab and its patience on the piracy front as signs that it's taking the right approach.