Piracy Steals 95% of Microsoft's Revenue in China
- Thread starter vansau
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Actually, most companies, even Microsoft, really don't have that much money to spare. The recession has hit every major corporation pretty hard. Sure they techinically have lots of money but the vast majority of it is tied up in projects and the staggering amount of upkeep that goes into maintaining such a huge company.Phlakes said:
Microsoft made over 19.95 billion dollars last year.
GENIUS IDEA! To make up for the lost revenue, they should cut the pay of all they're "General Managers" and "Senior Directors" by 20%. Both of which can make almost $400,000.
And i really dont think a "Associate General Counsel" should be making over $300,000.
They cry about all the money theyre losing to pirates, just look at how much they're LITERALLY GIVING AWAY TO PAPER PUSHERS.
Now i dont like pirates ether. But they really dont have a right to complain when theres over 1.2 million dollars given to people who do nothing but sit around and "Team Task managing" and making sure theres good "Synergy".
GENIUS IDEA! To make up for the lost revenue, they should cut the pay of all they're "General Managers" and "Senior Directors" by 20%. Both of which can make almost $400,000.
And i really dont think a "Associate General Counsel" should be making over $300,000.
They cry about all the money theyre losing to pirates, just look at how much they're LITERALLY GIVING AWAY TO PAPER PUSHERS.
Now i dont like pirates ether. But they really dont have a right to complain when theres over 1.2 million dollars given to people who do nothing but sit around and "Team Task managing" and making sure theres good "Synergy".
I've lived and owned businesses in China for more than ten years, and I'd like to address some misconceptions presented in this thread. There is a good chance that this post might be retroactively censored, or my future access to this site restricted. These are observations, not criticisms. Anyhow, here goes:
(1) It's not really about comparative wealth/income differences. Most of "the poor" here are not educated/tech savvy enough to even consider buying a PC, let alone benefit from having one.
(2) It's about the perception of wealth. (status, or "face", attributable through acquiring and owning certain items and applications, regardless of whether they are genuine articles)
(3) It's about accumulating wealth, and recognising/exploiting any opportunity or potential to do so. (software/media pirates actually open their own stores here, and then pay the appropriate official- who has also recognised an opportunity- the requisite amount to operate their business unhindered.)
(4) It's about an EXTREMELY competitive society, economy, business market, education system and employment market. I'm talking about a population (and density thereof) that many outside of China simply couldn't comprehend.
(5) It's about CONVENIENCE. Ease of access. Speed of access. (for instance, walking ten meters down the street and picking up the latest pirated DVDs/games/software/music in the one place, at a very cheap price)
(6) It's about minimising costs, saving money. Any amount of money, at any time. This applies to both the wealthy and poor equally.
(7) It's about an established culture of "kickbacks".
(8) It's about the infeasibility of abolishing piracy here. How could it ever be accomplished?
(9) It's about all of the above taking any and all precedence over any notion of intellectual property.
(1) It's not really about comparative wealth/income differences. Most of "the poor" here are not educated/tech savvy enough to even consider buying a PC, let alone benefit from having one.
(2) It's about the perception of wealth. (status, or "face", attributable through acquiring and owning certain items and applications, regardless of whether they are genuine articles)
(3) It's about accumulating wealth, and recognising/exploiting any opportunity or potential to do so. (software/media pirates actually open their own stores here, and then pay the appropriate official- who has also recognised an opportunity- the requisite amount to operate their business unhindered.)
(4) It's about an EXTREMELY competitive society, economy, business market, education system and employment market. I'm talking about a population (and density thereof) that many outside of China simply couldn't comprehend.
(5) It's about CONVENIENCE. Ease of access. Speed of access. (for instance, walking ten meters down the street and picking up the latest pirated DVDs/games/software/music in the one place, at a very cheap price)
(6) It's about minimising costs, saving money. Any amount of money, at any time. This applies to both the wealthy and poor equally.
(7) It's about an established culture of "kickbacks".
(8) It's about the infeasibility of abolishing piracy here. How could it ever be accomplished?
(9) It's about all of the above taking any and all precedence over any notion of intellectual property.
Oh, cry me a river, Steve. I couldn't give a toss how much Microsoft are suffering. I might show a bit of concern once MS have stopped being assholes themselves.
Not when the cost of the OS is basically doubling the cost of the system.
*facepalms*Zannah said:
No, no, it's not.
Microsoft is using US pricing in China, which has the adverse effect of causing them to have less sales.
Add to this fact that most government software runs Linux and you have a pricing problem, not a piracy problem.
Don't make the programs compatible with the chinese language? That's what I would do. Make them really work if they want to pirate it. Then, flood the chinese torrent sites with fake cracked programs that upload malware. That way, when they pirate the fake cracked programs with the home made chinese language patches, all they get is spam messages about male enhancement products.
"""""I've lived and owned businesses in China for more than ten years, and I'd like to address some misconceptions presented in this thread. There is a good chance that this post might be retroactively censored, or my future access to this site restricted. These are observations, not criticisms. Anyhow, here goes:
(1) It's not really about comparative wealth/income differences. Most of "the poor" here are not educated/tech savvy enough to even consider buying a PC, let alone benefit from having one.
(2) It's about the perception of wealth. (status, or "face", attributable through acquiring and owning certain items and applications, regardless of whether they are genuine articles)
(3) It's about accumulating wealth, and recognising/exploiting any opportunity or potential to do so. (software/media pirates actually open their own stores here, and then pay the appropriate official- who has also recognised an opportunity- the requisite amount to operate their business unhindered.)
(4) It's about an EXTREMELY competitive society, economy, business market, education system and employment market. I'm talking about a population (and density thereof) that many outside of China simply couldn't comprehend.
(5) It's about CONVENIENCE. Ease of access. Speed of access. (for instance, walking ten meters down the street and picking up the latest pirated DVDs/games/software/music in the one place, at a very cheap price)
(6) It's about minimising costs, saving money. Any amount of money, at any time. This applies to both the wealthy and poor equally.
(7) It's about an established culture of "kickbacks".
(8) It's about the infeasibility of abolishing piracy here. How could it ever be accomplished?
(9) It's about all of the above taking any and all precedence over any notion of intellectual property.
report"""""
That sounds about right. Very good insight.
(1) It's not really about comparative wealth/income differences. Most of "the poor" here are not educated/tech savvy enough to even consider buying a PC, let alone benefit from having one.
(2) It's about the perception of wealth. (status, or "face", attributable through acquiring and owning certain items and applications, regardless of whether they are genuine articles)
(3) It's about accumulating wealth, and recognising/exploiting any opportunity or potential to do so. (software/media pirates actually open their own stores here, and then pay the appropriate official- who has also recognised an opportunity- the requisite amount to operate their business unhindered.)
(4) It's about an EXTREMELY competitive society, economy, business market, education system and employment market. I'm talking about a population (and density thereof) that many outside of China simply couldn't comprehend.
(5) It's about CONVENIENCE. Ease of access. Speed of access. (for instance, walking ten meters down the street and picking up the latest pirated DVDs/games/software/music in the one place, at a very cheap price)
(6) It's about minimising costs, saving money. Any amount of money, at any time. This applies to both the wealthy and poor equally.
(7) It's about an established culture of "kickbacks".
(8) It's about the infeasibility of abolishing piracy here. How could it ever be accomplished?
(9) It's about all of the above taking any and all precedence over any notion of intellectual property.
report"""""
That sounds about right. Very good insight.
Given that I have been to China, I prefer Jucci.... wait I think I misused that week spent on a "diplomatic cultural exchange". Especially since I was 14 and got quite drunk because apparently I looked about 20.Daystar Clarion said:
Wow, so the Chinese Pirate loads of shit. Big deal. Microsoft still makes billions annually, so what's the issue here?
I pirate stuff all the time, my logic?
A) Because I can.
B) Because for every one of me that pirates, they still sell ten thousand copies, except in China.
C) Because I'm not spending my hard earned cash on a game to 'see if I like it'. I'm gonna find out if it's any good, and THEN buy it. But only if it passes my quality testing first.
I pirate stuff all the time, my logic?
A) Because I can.
B) Because for every one of me that pirates, they still sell ten thousand copies, except in China.
C) Because I'm not spending my hard earned cash on a game to 'see if I like it'. I'm gonna find out if it's any good, and THEN buy it. But only if it passes my quality testing first.
Considering Chinese prisoners are forced to be WoW gold farmers, this sounds very credible. Maybe those in tax debt are forced to make copies of Windows so all the People can have it in China.
So who thought it was a good idea to let China into the trade market? It is times like these I wish the UK reneged on giving Hong Kong back.
So who thought it was a good idea to let China into the trade market? It is times like these I wish the UK reneged on giving Hong Kong back.
A big American company thinks the Chinese government is deliberately not co-operating? I'd never have guessed.
I'm sorry Microsoft, but the Chinese government simply doesn't give a fuck about its average citizens, and it gives even less of a fuck about YOU.
I'm sorry Microsoft, but the Chinese government simply doesn't give a fuck about its average citizens, and it gives even less of a fuck about YOU.
Piracy has been ignored or even (unofficially) supported for decades by the government. The way they look at, if people are made happier by getting essentially free movies and games, then it makes it easier to rule. Why should they waste time and effort to make their own job harder and simultaneously enrich their class enemies?
Of course, this attitude is the kiss of death on most homegrown IPs. There are reasons Japan took off and created dozens of franchises and brand lines famous here and China didn't. This is one of them.
Of course, this attitude is the kiss of death on most homegrown IPs. There are reasons Japan took off and created dozens of franchises and brand lines famous here and China didn't. This is one of them.
Why so much MSFT hate? They're a commercial software company who are currently failing at the commercial side in China. It's like releasing a *nix distro and getting called Capitalist bastard.
Ubuntu for example..
Majority of hacked software.. Actually majority of anything illegal in the virtual world comes from USA, China and Russia. That used to be true anyway, seems they're slipping. But still, a lot of hacks, cracks and repacks for various software come from China and Russia, then translated by our friends in the USA and rereleased.
MSFT is free to complain if they lose large amounts of money, same as Versace, Rolex. Or is that Rolexx? In China, you can never be too sure.
Ubuntu for example..
Majority of hacked software.. Actually majority of anything illegal in the virtual world comes from USA, China and Russia. That used to be true anyway, seems they're slipping. But still, a lot of hacks, cracks and repacks for various software come from China and Russia, then translated by our friends in the USA and rereleased.
MSFT is free to complain if they lose large amounts of money, same as Versace, Rolex. Or is that Rolexx? In China, you can never be too sure.
Frankly, software is expensive. Hell, Windows 7 costs 250 euros in my country alone. The minimum wage here is 150 Euros. If Microsoft can't be bothered to adjust the prices to OUR wages then I see no reason why I should conform to their prices. The same applies to China I believe.