The Silicon Review ^Asia

Microsoft is one of the top contenders racing to buy the operations of TikTok. The deal is reasonable, considering the presence of the tech giant in China. Earlier this year, Microsoft’s President Brad Smith had stated that the company’s revenue in China accounts for over $2 billion. The tech giant has employed just over 6000 people, and it has offices in Suzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing. Windows OS is widely used in China, but the revenue is significantly reduced due to piracy. A few years ago, Microsoft had launched its cloud computing service Azure b partnering with a native data service company. Microsoft’s services are limited in China because the sector is primarily dominated by local providers like Baidu, Huawei, Tencent, and Alibaba Group.

The company’s most significant China operation is Microsoft Research Asia because it is well-known for leading the AI segment. Throughout the years, Microsoft has had scrapes with China by filing lawsuits against rampant piracy issues. Sometimes the lawsuits were also against state-backed companies. One of the notable tussles of Microsoft and China was in 2014, and this was when the company’s headquarters was raided, and there was a call for all agencies to ban the purchase of Windows 8. Eventually, the tech giant released a region exclusive edition of Windows 10 called the China Government Edition.