China is one of the most viable markets for Microsoft and has had its operations here for more than 20 years has made its entry in 1992. Using its long-term investment and development strategy, Microsoft has expanded its business dramatically. One of the Microsoft's largest subsidiary and research and development center is situated in China. It has worked closely with its customers and other stakeholders to achieve its innovation and initiate and contain its technologies and solutions in China. It has vigorous partner network with about 17, 000 partners, a move that significantly increases its revenue (McDonald 2017).
Microsoft is highly committed to its Chinese customers and aims at meeting their needs at enterprise, city and national levels. To further enhance its social ties, it highly values corporate social responsibilities and has actively been involved in giving back to the society within which it operates ( Sampi Marketing Inc. 2016). Its CSR revolves around education and training program, supporting creativity and local economic improvement and helping in creating a safe and open computing atmosphere.
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Despite the successes achieved in this market, Microsoft has encountered huge challenges in gaining control of market share and profits. Its major problem cannot be associated with its brand since almost everybody and businesses had embraced and were using Microsoft's Operating System (OS) ( Sampi Marketing Inc. 2016). The primary problem was dominant piracy. Microsoft used numerous ways to trigger government intervention into this menace, but it was in vain ( Stevens, Xie & Peng, 2016). Instead of the government eradicate this menace, it supported Microsoft’s key Windows competitor, Linux. The government viewed Microsoft’s approach with suspicion and regarded a fight to achieve monopoly (McDonald 2017). The existence of Linux as a substitute and inadequate government help created a very challenging environment for Microsoft.
In conclusion, for Microsoft to remain relevant and competitive in China's current market, it has to be highly creative. Its monopolistic existence is being encroached by Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent (BAT) and other technological companies focusing on operating systems and office apps.
References
McDonald C., (2017). Will The New China Strategy Drive Microsoft Corporation Growth? Retrieved on 6 March 6, 2018, from https://amigobulls.com/articles/will-the-new-china-strategy-drive-microsoft-corporation-growth
Sampi Marketing Inc. (2016). M icrosoft in China: 20 Years of Playing By The Rules. Retrieved on 6 March 6, 2018, from https://sampi.co/microsoft-in-china-20-years/
Stevens, C. E., Xie, E., & Peng, M. W. (2016). Toward a legitimacy ‐ based view of political risk: The case of Google and Yahoo in China. Strategic Management Journal , 37 (5), 945-963.
