14 DAY TRIAL // Considering that it has about 100 million Internet users and a growth rate that will soon place it ahead of the United States, China has become somewhat of an El Dorado for any company involved in the Internet services industry.
And if you're a big name, as Google or Microsoft are, it's clear that you cannot ignore this growing market, and all you can do is face your competition in open battle, sooner or later.
In the case of Google and Microsoft, the competition is moving from the Internet into court rooms, and that's because Google has decided to enlist Kai-Fu Lee, a former Microsoft employee, in its ranks.
Lee is a major acquisition for Google and Microsoft's fears that he could disclose some important details regarding the company's plans in China are not so far fetched.
Is it worth it for Google to leave all manners aside and provoke its opponent directly? It probably is, because I'm quite sure that the people who decided to announce Kai-Fu Lee's hiring were probably quite aware of the possibility of a lawsuit, since Google decided to follow this course of action. If in the United States Google has quite a comfortable position, allowing it to sit back and watch all the moves made by his opponents, the same cannot be said for China. According to a recent study, Google had a market share of 21% in China, behind some sites as Baidu.com or Yahoo.
So the stakes of controlling over 100 million users are pretty high, enough to leave aside all qualms aside.
The effects of a Google-Microsoft lawsuit will be very good for the competition, and Yahoo or Baidu don't have to do anything but sit and watch as their rivals get busy in the court rooms.
Both Google and Microsoft should really focus on finding a solution to their problem, because otherwise they won't stand a chance in China.