By Stevie Smith Aug 6, 2007, 16:14 GMT
Following Microsoft’s recent claims that it has shipped in excess of 60 million units of its Windows Vista operating system, the American software giant has now moved to increase Vista’s legitimate exposure in China by slashing its retail price throughout the region.
More specifically, Microsoft Corp. has hacked more than half the retail price off Vista in China in an effort to make the new operating system more attractive to potential consumers and (hopefully) stem the draw of illegal pirate copies of the operating system. The proliferation of illegal software is fairly rife throughout China, with around $500 million USD’s worth of seized goods being accounted for by Chinese authorities – with the assistance of the FBI – in July alone.
In terms of software price point adjustment for prospective Chinese users, the Redmond-based company has reduced the regional price of Windows Vista Home Basic by 67 percent, moving it down to the equivalent of $66 USD. The Windows Vista Home Premium edition has also been downwardly adjusted by 50 percent through to an equivalent US price of $119.
Microsoft considers China to be one of its most potentially integral markets and has already slashed the price of previous Windows offerings (XP Starter Pack) for the country’s students, gifting them with an operating system for as little as $3.00 USD.
Microsoft has struggled to make its mark in China ever since it arrived in the region some 15 years ago, in part due to the country’s authorities opting to embrace the rival Linux system. Somewhat ironically, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates has suggested in a Fortune magazine article that China’s massive illegal software trade has actually helped the company gain exposure and traction, offering that: "It’s easier for our software to compete with Linux when there’s piracy than when there’s not."
A Times Online feature reports that creation and distribution syndicates directly hit by the recent $500 million USD raids in Guangdong province are already responsible for more than $2 billion USD in pirated computer software. Pirating and illegal copying is thought to have inflicted some $5.43 billion USD’s worth of damage on the global computer software industry throughout 2006, which is 400 percent more than the amount garnered through aboveboard sales channels.
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