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WPS Office: Kingsoft Takes on Microsoft
Competition in the office software field in China is intensifying with Kingsoft, a major Chinese provider of office applications, Wednesday releasing the latest version of its word processing system, WPS Office, one month ahead of the launch of Microsoft's OfficeXP.
The firm has vowed to take 40 to 50 percent of the office software market this year.
Although the management of the company denied that the release of WPS Office had anything to do with the forthcoming OfficeXP software, the marketing strategies all show the Chinese firm's ambition to compete with the US giant.
"The competition with Microsoft is a lasting game and we can't expect to catch up in a short time," said Lei Jun, president of Kingsoft.
According to statistics from the International Data Corporation, a worldwide IT market research company, Microsoft has more than a 5 percent share of the software market in China and ranks second after IBM, while Kingsoft is not even among the top 10.
However, the Chinese company said it was determined to change the situation and believed that it will sell 5 million copies this year.
"We are still a follower in the market, but we will spare no efforts to expand our share this year," said Wang Feng, marketing vice-president of the company.
The firm has its hopes set on OEM (original equipment manufacturer) products, which are sold together with computers.
OEM products are computer software or hardware produced by a computer maker, instead of products bought from other component-makers or sofeware developers.
According to Wang, although the profits from the OEM market are very small and may not be important to Microsoft's revenues, a huge amount of products can be sold and it will be a quick way to expand market share.
The company has won support from Legend, IBM and other major personal computer sellers in China. A recent contract between Kingsoft and Legend is expected to bring 1.1 million users to the software firm.
Low prices will be a major advantage for the Chinese company. The corporate edition of WPS Office will be sold for 1,298 yuan (US$157), while Microsoft is reported to be setting the price of the professional edition of OfficeXP at 6,999 yuan (US$846).
In addition, Kingsoft will release a student edition for about 50 yuan (US$6) soon.
Microsoft said it has been co-operating with many Chinese companies to get ready for the formal launch of its new product and to develop applications based on OfficeXP.
It also started manufacturing OfficeXP in China last month and the release date has been set for June.
Analysts have said that although the functions of the new products of the two companies are similar, many customers have favourite office software so Kingsoft may not pose a big threat to Microsoft.
However, Kingsoft's market share will expand with the development of domestic companies and markets.
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