Home>News Center>Bizchina
       
 

Gates: Microsoft to expand China research
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-07-02 15:35

Bill Gates said Thursday that Microsoft Corp. plans to invest more in its research operations in China and said he wasn't concerned about the possible impact on the software maker of China's efforts to enact antitrust legislation.

The co-founder and chairman of the world's biggest software company said Microsoft is interested in pursuing research in China aimed at developing mobile phone technology. "The mobile market here is quite phenomenal," Gates told an audience of hundreds of Chinese university students who filled a cavernous hall at Beijing's Olympic Center. "That's an area where the United States is not a leader, so it's particularly important for us to look around the world."

He said the company would be spending even more of its US$6.8 billion annual research budget in China.

Gates' visit to China comes amid official efforts to dilute the dominance of Microsoft's Windows operating system by developing a Chinese alternative based on the open-source Linux system.

Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft says its Beijing development laboratory is one of its most successful research centers. China has the world's biggest mobile-phone market, with some 250 million users.



 
  Story Tools  
   
  Related Stories  
   
Int'l co-op on software development emphasized
   
Customer needs are vital to Microsoft
   
Microsoft thinks small
   
Partnership targets small, medium businesses
Advertisement