Lenovo spends US$1.2b on Windows
To comply with the government rulings on
combatting piracy, Chinese PC makers are pre-loading licensed operating
systems.
LENOVO Group Ltd has signed an agreement with Microsoft Corp to pay US$1.2 billion for Windows software this year to comply with China’s efforts to curb piracy, the country’s No. 1 personal computer maker said yesterday.
The purchase follows a March mandate by the Chinese government that computer makers install licensed operating systems on their products prior to sale. Other Chinese PC vendors including Founder, Tongfang and TCL Computer have signed contracts totaling US$430 million with Microsoft since last month.
About 70 percent of Lenovo’s customers are now choosing to install Windows.
I thought this was the interesting bit:
Despite the Windows purchases, Lenovo said it won’t dramatically increase computer prices. Its volume purchasing will help cut software costs, the company said. Each Windows copy costs the manufacturers about 300 yuan, one-fifth of Windows’ retail price, industry insiders said.
That’s just over $37. How does that compare with prices MSoft charges folks like, say, HP?
Oh yeah, I thought it pretty funny that Hu Jintao — arriving for a state visit to the US, this week — will have dinner with Bill Gates, first, before he gets round to visiting the White House.
Posted: Wed - April 19, 2006 at 06:25 AM