Telecom Lead Asia: Microsoft is set to hire more than 1,000 additional employees in China this year to expand its share in mobile Internet and cloud computing market.
The technology major will also boost research and development spending by 15 percent.
Ralph Haupter, Microsoft’s CEO for China, said the company is recruiting local partners to create mobile applications for China.
In China, nearly 400 million people go online using mobile phones and other wireless devices.
Microsoft is stepping up efforts to expand use of its Windows 8 operating system for mobile phones. In China, the company trails Apple’s iPhone and Google, whose Android operating system is widely used.
Meanwhile, China is set to become the global leader in terms of smartphone shipment with 26.5 percent of all smartphone shipments in 2012.
Smartphone penetration in China will be augmented by strong end-user demand, which is being supported by rapid roll-outs of 3G networks by all three telecom service providers.
According to a report from Beijing-based research company Analysys International, the penetration rate of 3G could be more than 20 percent by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, Analysys International also said China is boasting a promising mobile map market, with the number of users estimated to reach 600 million by the end of 2015. Mobile map clients will account for about 64.6 percent of all mobile phone users.
It is now a key time for mobile map application providers to attract more users by upgrading their services and products. By the end of June, the average number of daily active mobile map users in China had reached 5.54 million, or only 2.4 percent of mobile phone users. The total number of mobile map users is expected to hit 287 million by the end of the year.
editor@telecomlead.com
