14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is no longer lost in translation when it comes down to China's mobile market. Sin Lew, general manager, Microsoft China Research and Development Group, and David Lindheimer, the director for the Microsoft China Research and Development Group, indicated that the Redmond company had taken the necessary measures to fully analyze and comprehend the unique characteristics of the Chinese market. Counting in excess of 650 million subscribers, China has an indisputable appeal to Microsoft, as the company claims that it has identified plenty of elbow room to permit it to join the game on what is the largest mobile market in the world.
The software giant is however not all talk and no play, as it has already debuted Windows Mobile concept stores across the country. Aiming to introduce a new mobile phone purchasing experience for Chinese consumers, no less than 35 hotspots have been opened to the public in 22 cities. The stores, designed to demonstrate the full line-up of Windows Mobile devices available, have been set up in collaboration with the country's largest mobile phone retailer, D.Phone and the top IT distributor Digital China.
Ahead of making its push, the Redmond company underlined the fact that understanding the local users' requirements is critical, as it will represent the difference between success and failure. Microsoft is facing a very complex market, 70% of which are China Mobile customers. “There are lots of big, hyperbolic claims made about China,” Lindheimer explained. “But one thing I’ve learned living there for a year and a half is that with every layer you peel back, you learn a little bit more and get to the deeper truth.”
The software giant already has a strong partner support in China in its aim to conquer the market. Microsoft’s China Research and Development group is already collaborating with OEMs, and local partners in this respect. Samsung and Motorola, along with dopod, Lenovo, and Amoi have already shown support for Windows Mobile.
Microsoft welcomed the restructuring of the telecommunication industry as an opportunity to grow competition. “Microsoft should invest and help connect those people and be part of that solution, so that as time goes by, our technology is the foundation that the infrastructure is built on,” Lew added.