So we know that the Chinese government isn’t necessarily the biggest fan of Microsoft. They have refused to allow the installation of Windows 8 on government computers and have claimed that this will only allow access for spying. Well according to a report from Reuters, it seems that the Chinese government has recently begun an anti-monopoly investigation of Microsoft in their country.
This follows a recent raid on Microsoft’s offices in four different cities in China. According to the country’s State Administration for Industry and Commerce, they claim that Microsoft had failed to fully disclose information regarding the Windows operating system and its suite of Office productivity software.
They also claim that Microsoft could be in violation of the country’s anti-monopoly laws, although the specific allegations were not detailed. They have claimed that they are unable to complete the investigation due to certain key personnel of Microsoft who weren’t around in China at that time.
Some have expressed their confusion over the accusation. According to Duncan Clark, the chairman of Beijing-based tech consultancy BDA, “It’s ironic they can be accused of a monopoly in a mostly pirated operating system market, as they were criticised for ending support to mostly non-paid versions of Windows XP.” Microsoft has also released a statement of their own, claiming “Our business practices in China are designed to be compliant with Chinese law.”