Conflicting Views On Microsoft In China

from the so-which-is-it dept

This won't be a new argument to many of you around here, but Business Week now has its own editorial up suggesting that Microsoft's strategy of clamping down on copyright infringement of its software in place like India and China will backfire by pushing people into using other options like Linux instead. The editorial makes a few good points, but falls into the trap (that plenty of others believe as well) that while it doesn't make sense to focus on copyright or patent enforcement in emerging markets, at some point it does make sense in mature markets. That's only true if people expect there to be no future innovation in those more mature markets. If there is room for innovation, then being overly aggressive in enforcing licensing just means that you're opening up an opportunity for a more innovative offering to take away your marketshare.

However, what's stranger is that this Business Week editorial comes soon after competitor Fortune Magazine has an article about how Microsoft has finally succeeded in China by not worrying so much about piracy -- and, in fact, recognizing that it was a good thing in the market, as it kept people from moving to Linux. While it may have taken Microsoft a while to realize that its old strategy of charging ridiculous prices wasn't going to work, Microsoft did eventually bring much cheaper offerings to market -- adapting to the competitive situation, rather than focusing solely on copyright laws. So, while it is true that clamping down on infringement may drive emerging economies directly into the waiting arms of competing products, it sounds like Microsoft may have recognized this point already.

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