Microsoft launches MSN China
By Liu Baijia (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-05-28 09:23

A partnership between US software giant Microsoft's Internet arm, MSN, and nine Chinese firms will bring significant changes to China's Internet and mobile value-added service market.

"My desire is that MSN China will inspire people to launch their own businesses here," said Sharon Baylay, general manager of MSN for emerging markets, in an interview in Beijing late Thursday.

The US giant has formally launched MSN China and signed nine partnerships to deal with news, online entertainment, auctions, English training, community, and games.

MSN China has also launched its portal MSN.com.cn and its MSN Messenger tab services.

The company will also upgrade its instant messaging service and launch a 250-megabyte Hotmail e-mail service.

MSN said its messenger service has 7.1 million registered users in China , but Baylay said she would think it conservative if the number only doubled over the next year.

According to Baylay, MSN China will earn most of its revenue from online advertising and some consumer services like mobile value-added services.

MSN China will also launch its search engine service in the future, although in China it currently works with Yahoo!'s 3721.

Hong Kong-listed Tencent, which operates the most popular instant messaging tool in China, QQ, is likely to be the heaviest casualty of MSN's march into the country.

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