Four top Chinese personal computer makers said today they would bundle all new home PCs with Microsoft's new operating system in an unprecedented pledge to curb piracy in the market where it is most rampant.
The decision could help Microsoft to stem lost revenues in China, where more than 90 per cent of the software installed on computers was pirated last year, an executive of the world's biggest software maker said.
The four firms - China's top PC brand, Legend Holdings Ltd, TCL Computer Technology Co, and the computer units of Great Wall Corporation and Tsinghua Tongfang Co - pledged to pre-install the Windows XP system on every new home computer.
"They never made this kind of commitment before," said Microsoft spokeswoman Ms Sharon Zhang.
"The decision could boost the percentage of home PCs in top Chinese cities running legal versions of Microsoft's Windows XP operating system to 40 or 50 per cent from 30 per cent now," said Mr Kelvin Hou, deputy general manager of Microsoft China.
Software firms lost a combined $1.1 billion to unlicensed use in 2000 in China, where the piracy rate was 94 per cent, according to the Business Software Alliance, which comprises software and e-commerce member firms in 65 countries.