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April 15, 2006
President Hu's First U.S. Stop
China President Hu Jintao's first day in the U.S. (next Tuesday) includes a tour of Microsoft headquarters in Redmond followed by dinner at Bill Gates house. Lots of excitement here in Seattle because our local economy, especially software, airplanes, and bio-tech, is highly influenced by Asian trade. Interesting his first dinner is at a private residence. (Well, OK, how private is a house with 66,000 square feet, 6 kitchens, and 24 bathrooms?) According to Reuters:
"Like any good dinner guest, President Hu will not come empty handed. The Chinese government issued a decree two weeks ago that all PCs will need to have licensed operating system software installed before leaving the factory gates in an effort to crack down on piracy.
"As a result, three Chinese PC manufacturers announced plans to buy a total of over $400 million worth of Microsoft Windows operating system software over the next three years and Lenovo Group Ltd., China's largest PC maker, is expected to announce a similar deal on Monday, organizers said."
More here.
$400 million is an expensive dinner on anyone's expense account. But Reuters, that's an awfully cynical view, isn't it?
Posted by DavidK at April 15, 2006 05:21 PM | Permalink