Microsoft China

2024: Android smartphones banned

Microsoft Corp. in July 2024 told employees in China that from September they would only be able to use an iPhone to work, effectively cutting Android-based devices off from the workplace.

The software maker standardizes employee cybersecurity.

2014

A fine of $140 million for tax evasion

On November 23, 2014, Xinhua published an article reporting on Microsoft's tax evasion while working in China. In connection with the violation of local tax legislation, the American corporation will be fined almost $140 million.

Interestingly, the Chinese edition did not mention the name of Microsoft in the publication. Journalists only wrote that we are talking about a company with the first letter "M" in the name, which is one of the 500 largest companies in the world and has a full-fledged representative office in Beijing since 1995. Only Microsoft falls under these criteria, Reuters notes.^[1]

According to Microsoft representing the Celestial Empire MEDIA, , it is accused of hiding tax profits, for which it was fined 840 million yuan (approximately $137 million at the exchange rate as of November 26, 2014). This amount includes not only unpaid taxes, but also interest on overdue payments. In addition, the software giant will annually pay more than 100 million yuan ($16.3 million) to the state budget as an additional fee.

Microsoft sent more than half of its revenue in China to the United States under the guise of fees for technical and R&D services

Xinhua writes that Microsoft did not challenge the decision of the authorities and is ready to pay the declared amounts. However, the US office of the Windows manufacturer denies reports of tax evasion, stating that in China the company makes tax deductions in full accordance with the bilateral agreement signed by China and the United States in 2012.

Meanwhile, the Chinese press spoke about the scheme that Microsoft used in the country for tax maneuvers. It is reported that officially over the past six years, the local representative office of the corporation recorded a loss exceeding 2 billion yuan ($326.2 million), while the activities of competitors in the market were noticeably profitable. It turned out that the Chinese subsidiary Microsoft sent more than half of its revenues to its head office in the United States under the guise of a fee for research and technical support services.

Ban on the use of Windows 8 in the public sector

Microsoft's activities have long been under the scrutiny of the Celestial authorities, and 2014 turned out to be extremely difficult for the Chinese business of the software giant.

In late August, the country's antitrust authorities began checking for the integrity of the methods that Microsoft uses in promoting, browserInternet Explorer player Windows Media Player and other products. During this investigation, there were sudden inspections of the company's office in. Beijing

In addition, the Microsoft OneDrive service was blocked in China and a ban was imposed on the use of the Windows 8 operating system in government agencies.

2012: Increase in the number of employees to 5.5 thousand people

Microsoft will try to close the gap with its main competitors, Apple and Google, in one of the key world IT markets.

Microsoft is not least interested in the Chinese Internet market: at that time, about 400 million people in the country are users of wireless mobile Internet. The number of Internet users in China as of July 2012 amounted to 538 million people, which is 11% more than a year earlier, according to the China Internet Network Information Center.

Microsoft is interested in promoting its new operating system for Windows 8 mobile devices in the local market, but Apple and Google Android already occupy a fairly strong position here.

are two strongest players in the local market, and we are ready to attack, ready to offer solutions in order to change the game plan," said Microsoft CEO in China Ralph Haupter.

Microsoft will increase its workforce in China by 1,000 employees in 2012. Prior to that, the number of Microsoft employees in this country was 4.5 thousand people, including development, marketing and customer support. As for the development budget, it will be increased by 15% to $500 million, according to the chairman of Microsoft for research and development in the Asia-Pacific region, Ya-Qin Zhang.

According to Chang, the company's development department in China, which currently has 3 thousand people, will also be increased by 15%. There are 6 Microsoft development centers in China, 80% of which is spent on creating products for the global market. It is also known that Microsoft is building a data center for cloud services in Shanghai, with 600 employees.

Haupter also said that Microsoft intends to expand the ecosystem of local partners who develop mobile applications specifically for China. Ultimately, the Chinese division of Microsoft will be comparable in scale to the Indian one, where as of September 2012 5.8 thousand people work.

1995: Getting started in China

In 1995, the representative office of Microsoft China began work.

Notes