12.14.08
Microsoft’s B.A.D. in China, Philippines
You can put cushions in a prison, but detained inhabitant
will still have a cushioned jail cell, not a home
B.A.D. stands for “Bribing, Addicting, and Dumping.” We previously gave examples of these in [1, 2, 3], going up to a month back. There are a couple new examples of this strategy, starting with the Philippines.
The company also partnered with Internet café chain Netopia, a move that Microsoft viewed as a strategic fit given the internet café’s prevalence in the country. The internet café chain has 157 company-owned and franchised branches in the country. As part of this partnership, Netopia will offer discounts and freebies to clients who sign in and use Windows Live.
Microsoft expects to tap a large number of its market from this tieup, considering that over 75 percent of internet users in the country use internet cafés.
This immediately rings a bell because of Microsoft’s great Kenyan Internet café scam. They try to get them locked in, just like in UNISA. It’s Web-imposed lock-in.
The second new example comes from China.
Software giant Microsoft yesterday announced plans to reduce the retail price of its Windows and Office products by as much as nearly 60 percent in China, hoping to win customers from pirate software dealers.
Putting propaganda terms aside (“pirate”), the intentions are very clear. They just don’t know how to make money in China. If they charge for the software, GNU/Linux wins; if they don’t, they have no revenue, just userbase that they always insult using words like “piracy”. █
“It’s easier for our software to compete with Linux when there’s piracy than when there’s not.”
–Bill Gates
pcolon said,
December 14, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Spent a lot of time in Asia. Culture is not what westerners (US & Europe) think it is. Even though the younger generation seems to gravitate to western ideas, there’s the hardcore older generation based on tradition. Traditionalism is an ingrown value that’s not going to change.
The ‘Black screen of Death’ is one act most people in China will never forget.
Rick said,
December 15, 2008 at 4:33 am
In some countries (like France, where I live) companies can’t sell a product for less than it costs to make. I suppose that this is not a problem in China so a 60% reduction may help. remember that MS does not make much money on the box, but on the games that get sold. Just like a razor makes the manufacturer very little, but selling the blades generates the revenue.
Jo Shields said,
December 15, 2008 at 4:38 am
That’s not unique to Microsoft, it’s been the case in the games industry for years. The Wii is actually an oddity in that the hardware generates a (tiny) profit
Roy Schestowitz said,
December 15, 2008 at 4:41 am
XBox360 is losing Microsoft billions of dollars. Sony is doing badly as well.