Microsoft CEO Nadella to Visit China, Why?

By Reuters
June 01,2016
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Satya Nadella is expected to meet government officials to discuss China's anti-trust investigation of the software titan, a source says. Fred Katayama reports.

Just a few weeks after Apple's Tim Cook visited Chinese government officials, Microsoft's CEO is doing likewise. A source says Satya Nadella is expected to meet officials to discuss China's anti-trust probe that has now stretched into its third year. China seeks to enforce an anti-monopoly law, putting several foreign companies, including Microsoft, under scrutiny. One of the anti-monopoly regulators raided Microsoft's offices in several Chinese cities in mid-2014. That issue appears to be unresolved. In January, that regulator asked Microsoft to explain some issues based on digital data it unearthed from the investigation.

Wunderlich Securities analyst Robert Breza, who thinks piracy may also come up in the talks, said, "Bill Gates went there multiple times. Nadella as the new CEO has to go there to establish a relationship. But will it radically change Microsoft in the next five years? Probably not."

The company faces other issues as well. Microsoft's revenue has come under pressure as China seeks to replace western technology products with those made locally. And just a few days ago, Microsoft has reportedly come under criticism for requiring users there to upgrade their Windows systems.