Thursday, June 3, 2010

Microsoft in Asia

In the latest issue of BusinessWeek, Steve Ballmer of Microsoft remarks that excluding Japan, only 3% of Microsoft's $60 billion dollars revenue comes from Asia. In the face of massive piracy/lack of IP protection - and yet one of the fastest growing regions for computers and software - Microsoft is in a difficult situation.

More important to this readership, if as a small business your greatest growth opportunity is a difficult and 'dangerous' market...what to do?

One strategy is to carve out a beachhead - a small part of the market - and develop from it.

Microsoft is trying to concentrate on business users in China, since they are probably more cognizant of IP rights than of the general public.

Likewise, find a small subset of your market that limits your exposure; for example a particular industry, and expand from it. It makes it easier for you to market and also develop.

Get a beachhead!

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