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Only 244 Genuine Windows Vista's Sold in China
morpheus83 writes "Whilst Microsoft was bragging about the sales number of their latest OS Windows Vista, few would actually know that they have only managed to sell 244 copies in the whole of China in the first 2 weeks. You heard that right, and that's the number quoted from the headquarters of the Windows Vista chief (90% national volume) distributor in Beijing."
Oddly, the only references in the "story" (TFA) are a circular reference back to site itself and an unintelligible link to a story in Japanese. I see nothing that substantiates the claim of 244 copies sold.
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Really poor submission
1 in 4 Maine children in struggle with hunger.
When I lived in Beijing, my g/f needed Windows reinstalled on her comp but didn't have a CD. We went to a local market in Chao Yang district and bought a copy of XP for 8 yuan ($1). They have boxes of cd's in shrinkwrap...Autocad, Photoshop, Flash, whatever you need. And if you buy a bunch you can bargain for a discount. Don't even get me started on DVD's... Combine that with the fact that beer is cheaper than water over there and you can see I obviously had a good time :)
I'm a Chinese in China with a computer experience of 14 years(since 386 with dos 3.3), let me say some reasons i knew about. Vista is too expensive. 300 dollar(ultimate edition) means 2200 RMB. Many people buy a whole PC priced less than 3000 RMB here in China. Individuals won't pay anything 'software' of which price is higher than 100 rmb(14USD). Yes, if microsoft can make a geniune copy less than 100RMB, i believe everyone in China will consider it. It would be going to be a shame not to own a genuine one. But for a product now priced more than half of my computer and can be bought, copied and downloaded everywhere, I definitly going to save some money. Owning computer is no longer a luxury in China since most computer parts are manufactured here(including almost every major brand). Everyone is going to have computer at various price. Also rich people won't think of owning a genuine copy a prestige. Long ago their taste switched to cars and houses. Those worst poors dont want computer at all but food and a place to live. If ask me why there were only 244 retail sold, I'd say microsoft knew this and they dont care. More over, i doubt some microsoft dudes leaked some vista copys on purpose. How can you explain that up-to-date, fully-automatic and one-click vista activator published by some vista fan forum? it must be with assitance of a microsoft insider. The activator make every copy working exactly as a geniune one, with one click and well-documented instructions and a support forum.. Also the news covering this 244 sales is misleading people. That number was the sales of one online software store(8848 Sofeware Store in Beijing) in two weeks. So , there was just one store. i believe the total sales in China was far higher than 244.
China, in fact, is very fragile.