Piracy Steals 95% of Microsoft's Revenue in China

[EternalFacepalm]

The government doesn't allow them to install Linux?
Seriously, why not install a free, open source OS instead of pirating Windows?

 

[Wintermoot]

gee whiz! I NEVER suspected China of ripping of/pirating stuff!
if you now excuse me I,m going to play my 100% China original Chintendo Vii!
-serious mode-
they barely have any originality even going as far as to ripp-off a 18 meter high statue (the only thing different is that it,s shorter and is shitty)
seriously sent ANY lawyer from ANY company and he,ll sue half the country for piracy (copying design,s is also piracy)
PS
I read in another post allot of the PC,s used in chine are scrapped older pieces of hardware scrapped together so I think newer Window,s OS,s wouldn't work on them meaning they would use older version (95,98,ME etc.) meaning that it wouldn't matter that much (anything older then Vista has been out of print and is no longer supported)
PPS
also MS is pretty much forcing us PC gamer,s to purchase their latest product EVERY year for $100+ meaning it all evens out.
PPPS
am I the only one that noticed allot of people cheering for the pirates and not getting suspended? I thought mods HATED it if you were pro piracy?

 

[Baresark]

Seems the apologists are forgetting that China has one of the four most powerful economies in the world. It doesn't have any more excuse for piracy than Canada or the U.S., except that people will do whatever they can get away with; gernments, citizens, industry, and employees alike.

It's actually the worlds second largest economy, but it has the largest population by a long shot. That wealth is not distributed well. The personal taxation is high. They pay a VAT of either 13% or 17% depending on the item, ridiculous consumption tax, a business tax for using a business, etc. The reason it's the second largest economy is because it has low corporate taxes and business regulations are practically non-existent. As and example, in Beijing you can start a business, then when it's successful you apply for a business permit, licensing, insurance, or whatever else you may need, depending on the business. It saves an entrepreneur all the startup cost besides the essential ones (resources, store front space if necessary, vehicles, etc), and if it's not successful you have saved yourself a good portion of the costs.

That is like saying that since America is the richest county in the world (based of GDP), then all Americans must drive a Bentley. It's simply not true. There are a lot of poor people all over the world, not that it's an excuse to steal, but that is just reality.

I love how the term apologist has become a derogatory term for people. It's literally someone who uses apologetics (the defense of a point using reason and logic) in an argument. Though it's usually a religious argument that employs this, according wikipedia.

 

[LordFisheh]

Three cheers for piracy, sticking it to the man! Microsoft is big and therefore evil, good thing we can stop their repression of our ability to have other people's things without paying! The end of the fascist neo-imperial Hitlerist-capitalist system is nigh!

 

[Wintermoot]

The government doesn't allow them to install Linux?
Seriously, why not install a free, open source OS instead of pirating Windows?

first off you need to learn ALLOT about Linux in order to use it efficiently (it,s comparable to building your own car from a kit you CAN do it but you need to learn allot about it)
second thing a majority of all the software produced is designed for Windows not Linux (yeah you can emulate it but you first need to know where to look for program,s like that and you know what the opinion is of China regarding the net)(the only way to change this if we all switched to Linux)

 

[EternalFacepalm]

first off you need to learn ALLOT about Linux in order to use it efficiently (it,s comparable to building your own car from a kit you CAN do it but you need to learn allot about it)
second thing a majority of all the software produced is designed for Windows not Linux (yeah you can emulate it but you first need to know where to look for program,s like that and you know what the opinion is of China regarding the net)(the only way to change this if we all switched to Linux)

Ubuntu is pretty user-friendly, and last time I checked, China allows Yahoo Answers. There's also Wine and Mono, OpenOffice.org (soon to be LibreOffice, but whatever) and such. So you can run Linux just fine without prior experience, really.

 

[Nerdstar]

Oh china, you are your people who lack any adhernce to western morals. Oh ho ho ho.

Seriously though, the Chinese government is fucked up and the country reflects this in many ways. I wish they could straighten out the country at some point and actually get things working.

This post is funny because China pretty much owns the world.

they arent even close to geting there theyve got soical instablity breing under the hood and as for there econmoy keep in mind japan was posed to be the econoimc powerhouse of the world before they crumbled.

 

[Caer Seraphim]

You made a mistake in the article. At one point, you said "Microsoft's revenue in China is 95 percent less than in the United States." The title says something different. So either USA and China are identical sized and penetrated markets, or the writer mistook them as if they are.

 

[Traun]

Why is it that the piracy whine started just a few years ago? Companies knew pirates existed, but damn...these days they just can't shut their mouths about it.

Not that piracy is right or a good thing...but we lived with it for over 3 decades by now.

 

[olicon]

Overstated and pure bullshot.

If MS Windows couldn't be pirated, only 10% of the people with computers right now would even consider buying it. If your demand drops to 10%, it would severely reduce "global demand" of MS, leading to many more businesses switching over to a different product to begin with.

Trust me, getting rid of piracy in developing country is a very tricky business. One less pirate != one more customer. If anything, it almost always lead to smaller acceptance and less global demand.

Woah there! That's simply not true. MS Windows runs an almost monopoly like status over the entire computing world, of which the vast majority of people are ignorant but still use.

Computing analogies work best when you compare the industry to the car industry in the USA. For many years, and still to this day, a vast majority of cars bought in the USA were American cars, not because of any kind of quality, but because they were cheap and recognisable. Also, they were the easiest to fix, because they held such a monopoly, the actual quality of the car be damned! Only recently have Euro and Japanese cars become popular, or in any way affordable over there. People knew American cars, and that's what they went for. Microsoft products are the American cars of the computing world: Easy for beginners, what most people are used to, and not quite as bad as fans of other brands make them out to be. These are the reasons that Microsoft is used, not because everyone downloads it.

That's precisely my point.
The reason it has monopoly is cyclical--people use it, so other people keep using it, and eventually it has monopoly.
If MS Windows couldn't be pirated, it will slowly die away.
Most rich people in Asia want trendy, shiney stuff--i.e. Mac stuff. Most of the people I know who can afford computers are now scrambling for Macs because it's prettier. If this keeps going, eventually even the corporate clients will switch over.
Luckily, Macs are expensive as hell, and PCs that runs pirated windows are relatively dirt cheap to buy and run. This is why most companies are still going for Windows.

 

[Verlander]

Overstated and pure bullshot.

If MS Windows couldn't be pirated, only 10% of the people with computers right now would even consider buying it. If your demand drops to 10%, it would severely reduce "global demand" of MS, leading to many more businesses switching over to a different product to begin with.

Trust me, getting rid of piracy in developing country is a very tricky business. One less pirate != one more customer. If anything, it almost always lead to smaller acceptance and less global demand.

Woah there! That's simply not true. MS Windows runs an almost monopoly like status over the entire computing world, of which the vast majority of people are ignorant but still use.

Computing analogies work best when you compare the industry to the car industry in the USA. For many years, and still to this day, a vast majority of cars bought in the USA were American cars, not because of any kind of quality, but because they were cheap and recognisable. Also, they were the easiest to fix, because they held such a monopoly, the actual quality of the car be damned! Only recently have Euro and Japanese cars become popular, or in any way affordable over there. People knew American cars, and that's what they went for. Microsoft products are the American cars of the computing world: Easy for beginners, what most people are used to, and not quite as bad as fans of other brands make them out to be. These are the reasons that Microsoft is used, not because everyone downloads it.

That's precisely my point.
The reason it has monopoly is cyclical--people use it, so other people keep using it, and eventually it has monopoly.
If MS Windows couldn't be pirated, it will slowly die away.
Most rich people in Asia want trendy, shiney stuff--i.e. Mac stuff. Most of the people I know who can afford computers are now scrambling for Macs because it's prettier. If this keeps going, eventually even the corporate clients will switch over.
Luckily, Macs are expensive as hell, and PCs that runs pirated windows are relatively dirt cheap to buy and run. This is why most companies are still going for Windows.

Well, I agree on your points, but I still don't think it's pirated that much. Throughout the west it has to be bought legally in big companies, and I'd be surprised if it wasn't the same in China. Maybe households over there pirate it... who knows?

It'd be nice to see less of a monopoly in the OS world though, which I think is slowly but surely happening

 

[olicon]

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Well, I agree on your points, but I still don't think it's pirated that much. Throughout the west it has to be bought legally in big companies, and I'd be surprised if it wasn't the same in China. Maybe households over there pirate it... who knows?

It'd be nice to see less of a monopoly in the OS world though, which I think is slowly but surely happening

That would be correct. Almost nobody outside of corporate entities have legit copies of Windows. And almost nobody knows how to use Linux either.
Mac is gaining significant ground amongst rich, casual users though.

 

[Verlander]

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Well, I agree on your points, but I still don't think it's pirated that much. Throughout the west it has to be bought legally in big companies, and I'd be surprised if it wasn't the same in China. Maybe households over there pirate it... who knows?

It'd be nice to see less of a monopoly in the OS world though, which I think is slowly but surely happening

That would be correct. Almost nobody outside of corporate entities have legit copies of Windows. And almost nobody knows how to use Linux either.
Mac is gaining significant ground amongst rich, casual users though.

Most new computers come with Windows as part of the package though. In fact, all new computers that aren't Mac or handmade do... so casual users have bought their copy by default.

Also with the rise and rise of tablets and "pads", there only really is preloaded Windows or Mac available, you can't change the OS (easily). So I'm still not convinced, although I don't doubt that the vast majority of people who know anything about computers have downloaded theirs.

 

[Shycte]

You know, I thought that this would make people realise that Piracy is a problem, but yet people seem to think that this is okay because "Microsoft already got loads of money". Seriously, it's easy to hate on big companies but grow up.

 

[unacomn]

Not to sound like I'm supporting piracy or anything, but Windows 7 Home edition costs 200 bucks. I've bought a working and useful PC for less.
(it runs on knoppix)

 

[JDKJ]

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I'd be "citing" if I was, not "sighting." Anyways . . .

You've completely lost me. If a currency isn't subject to the natural forces of the market in which all other major currencies are traded and therefore the value of that currency isn't set by that market but, rather, its value is artificially pegged to the US dollar, I can't see how that currency can be said to "compete" with any other currency, especially the currency to which it's been pegged. That's precisely what it isn't doing by removing itself from the competitive market: it isn't competing in that market.

To use your own example, despite all the debt China has issued to the United States, that debt issuance has no effect on the value of their currency vis-à-vis the US dollar. If you wanted to trade on the fact of that debt and buy yuans in hopes that they'll appreciate in value, you can't because there's no speculative market for yuans.

In all fairness, I wrote that post on my phone, which is not the most enjoyable for proof reading. But, you are correct, I meant "citing". If you bother looking back, I had actually used the word "cite" and it's many variations, quite a few times.

Back to our discussion though: You are making the mistake of assuming strength is a derivative of value, when if fact the reverse is true. People do not invest in something because it is expensive, they invest in it because it's strong and therefore has great value, and if it is strong, it will most likely go up in value. So, the Yuan is a strong currency, whose controller has decided to peg to the US Dollar. The relative value is not what makes it competitive, but the strength of the currency itself that makes it competitive. The currency is strong, but it holds it's own relative value down in order to keep the goods cheap for the US. The strength can be openly seen by the fact that as of 2011, China is the second largest economy in the world, passing Japan in 2010. It's the largest exporter, and second largest importer (after the US). Some experts predict that by 2020, it could be largest economy in the world. They also own 20.8% of all US Foreign Treasure Debt. This is a strong nation with a strong currency.

You are not correct in assuming people do not invest in the Yuan. Same Financial experts such as Marc Faber (a large investor and business owner) and Gerald Celente (a financial trends forecaster) suggest that the Yuan is the chief currency to invest in, if you want to invest in a foreign currency. Investment in any currency is only for the long term though. It's also important if you plan on moving your assets to a place like Beijing (as in Marc Faber's situation).

Also, the market is, as always, restricted by regulations. But, the Market cannot be kept at bay. Despite the relative value being pegged to another currency of relative value, it's still competing in the fact that it's a strong currency.

It turns out, after further research, that in New York City you can open a bank account in yaun. That's a change that occurred early this year. It's capped at a mere $40,000 US dollars a year, but still . . . it's gotta be a fail-proof investment. Ain't nowhere for the yuan to go but up. Thanks for the tip. : P

"When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen."

P.S.: Until this year, you couldn't buy yuans directly as an investment. The best you could have done is indirectly investing by means of a yuan-based investment vehicle, like a private equity fund.

 

[Baresark]

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I'd be "citing" if I was, not "sighting." Anyways . . .

You've completely lost me. If a currency isn't subject to the natural forces of the market in which all other major currencies are traded and therefore the value of that currency isn't set by that market but, rather, its value is artificially pegged to the US dollar, I can't see how that currency can be said to "compete" with any other currency, especially the currency to which it's been pegged. That's precisely what it isn't doing by removing itself from the competitive market: it isn't competing in that market.

To use your own example, despite all the debt China has issued to the United States, that debt issuance has no effect on the value of their currency vis-à-vis the US dollar. If you wanted to trade on the fact of that debt and buy yuans in hopes that they'll appreciate in value, you can't because there's no speculative market for yuans.

In all fairness, I wrote that post on my phone, which is not the most enjoyable for proof reading. But, you are correct, I meant "citing". If you bother looking back, I had actually used the word "cite" and it's many variations, quite a few times.

Back to our discussion though: You are making the mistake of assuming strength is a derivative of value, when if fact the reverse is true. People do not invest in something because it is expensive, they invest in it because it's strong and therefore has great value, and if it is strong, it will most likely go up in value. So, the Yuan is a strong currency, whose controller has decided to peg to the US Dollar. The relative value is not what makes it competitive, but the strength of the currency itself that makes it competitive. The currency is strong, but it holds it's own relative value down in order to keep the goods cheap for the US. The strength can be openly seen by the fact that as of 2011, China is the second largest economy in the world, passing Japan in 2010. It's the largest exporter, and second largest importer (after the US). Some experts predict that by 2020, it could be largest economy in the world. They also own 20.8% of all US Foreign Treasure Debt. This is a strong nation with a strong currency.

You are not correct in assuming people do not invest in the Yuan. Same Financial experts such as Marc Faber (a large investor and business owner) and Gerald Celente (a financial trends forecaster) suggest that the Yuan is the chief currency to invest in, if you want to invest in a foreign currency. Investment in any currency is only for the long term though. It's also important if you plan on moving your assets to a place like Beijing (as in Marc Faber's situation).

Also, the market is, as always, restricted by regulations. But, the Market cannot be kept at bay. Despite the relative value being pegged to another currency of relative value, it's still competing in the fact that it's a strong currency.

It turns out, after further research, that in New York City you can open a bank account in yaun. That's a change that occurred early this year. It's capped at a mere $40,000 US dollars a year, but still . . . it's gotta be a fail-proof investment. Ain't nowhere for the yuan to go but up. Thanks for the tip. : P

"When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen."

P.S.: Until this year, you couldn't buy yuans directly as an investment. The best you could have done is indirectly investing by means of a yuan-based investment vehicle, like a private equity fund.

Haha, you are quite welcome. Glad we worked that out.

 

[captain underpants]

I don't have a lot of sympathy when rich fucks like Ballmer start complaining they're not getting enough money. I'm sure he cries into his caviar every night. What arrogance!

 

[Canid117]

I read that as 'minecraft'

Personally, I see microsoft as a bunch of moneygrabbing applebuckers so I'm not particularly swayed either way.

Because every company doesn't act that way? Seriously I am tired of the rampant Microsoft hate. The only real difference between them and any other huge company like Apple or Sony is that their PR department can go suck a dick for laughable incompetence.

 

[Rikdyou]

Isn't 95% of everything in China pirated/fake?

You forgot cheap and violating basic human rights as well. China is fail. And I'm really tired of them attacking my goddamn router.

China pirates food.. kinda. They gotta make their own fake food which FUGGIN KILLS PEOPLE.
China sucks.