Top Microsoft executive visits Taiwan for partnership enhancement

Taipei, Nov. 17, 2004 (CENS)--Kevin Johnson, a senior vice president of Microsoft Americas, visited his company's Taiwanese strategic partners yesterday to discuss about cooperation on next-generation software.

Johnson, who runs sales, marketing and services for the Americas, is a member of the Microsoft's seven-men decision-making team. He said his company would spend US$1.6 billion on developing new products and technologies in cooperation with partners throughout the world. He stressed that Taiwan's OEM-based and ODM-based suppliers were his company's important strategic partners and he would hash out them over how to optimize their cooperation models and over the deals on the development of next-generation software.

Microsoft's Taiwan partners including Acer, Asustek Computer, BenQ, Elitegroup Computer Systems, HIT Corp., Quanta Computer, Synnex Technology International and Eten Information Systems sent their executives to confer with Johnson.

In addition to partnership-enhancement visits, the Microsoft's executive elaborated Taiwanese partners on Microsoft's strategies for several new Windows platforms such as Service Pack 2 security patch-up program, 64-bit version of Windows XP Professional program and Windows Starter Edition.

At a press conference held yesterday, Johnson also announced that his company would finance a program with US$800,000 to help train 30,000 of Taiwan's women in inferior social status to use information technology to make a living.

Johnson expected worldwide consumption of personal computers to expand to one billion systems over next five or 10 years, up from current 600 million computers, with new devices featuring entertainment and communication merits playing driving-force role.