China Software Piracy Good For Microsoft

Tuesday, Apr. 11 2006 | Author: Dave

Here is an interesting story about Piracy actually helping Microsoft that really makes sense. I don’t condone piracy, but I now understand why Microsoft really does not put the effort into battling it that they could.

Last week we looked at the software industry’s dubious claim that piracy was hurting the Chinese economy. Not only does software piracy probably not hurt their economy, it doesn’t necessarily hurt the software companies, like Microsoft. In fact, as the company has acknowledged in the past, piracy helps the company achieve a high Windows user base. Companies using Windows, legitimately or not, are more likely to buy the software in the future, buy other Microsoft products, and help hold competitors at bay. While Microsoft has talked a tough game, taking a hardline anti-piracy stance, they’ve actually been pretty good about not being too aggressive, knowing that they could drive users to rival platforms.

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2 Responses for "China Software Piracy Good For Microsoft"

mynn

April 12th, 2006 at 4:54 am
1

very interesting article!

I think they should use this strategy for a hackable video games console as well. e.g. many people bought a dreamcast & xbox as it was very hackable. –> that could increase the user base right?
David

April 12th, 2006 at 10:06 am
2

I think that opening up something like the dreamcast to independant developers and whatnot would be a good thing. Let third parties make their own “dreamcasts” much like the NES systems now. Let smaller companies publish their own dreamcast games. I think the dreamcast could still be going strong as a niche system.

Anyways… I dont think gaming companies, especially ones with older consoles are really worried about market share anymore. But an interesting thought none the less.