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.