Currently, one of the major tasks for Microsoft is to build a sound ecosystem that includes all the local partners, according to Haupter.

In September, Microsoft launched Windows Server 2012, a cloud-based server operating system targeting small and medium-sized enterprises. The company is also mulling whether to introduce Windows Azure, its cloud-computing platform, to China.

Going mobile

Looking forward in 2013, China's consumer market is increasingly attractive to international IT companies, especially Microsoft.

China expected to sell 240 million smartphones in 2012, nearly one-third of the global shipments, IT research company Canalys estimated.

"Mobile Internet is a very important element of the Chinese market and it will grow robustly in the coming years," Haupter predicted.

Microsoft saw the decline of the PC industry years ago but it chose to focus on developing cloud computing technology, missing out on the window of opportunity to enter the mobile sector early on.

Windows 8 was the company's latest and probably the last chance for it to stake a claim as the entire world goes mobile.

Microsoft should give Chinese customers options for different devices and individualize their experiences in order to obtain a bigger market share, said Haupter, adding that localizing Windows devices requires local developers to design applications that reflect the needs of local customers.

The Windows store in China had the second-largest number of apps on its launch day behind the United States, according to Microsoft.

World-leading IT manufacturers such as Nokia Corp, Samsung, ZTE Corp and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd have released their own version of Windows Phones to broaden their product lines.

Teaming up with hardware makers will enable Windows 8 to have a variety of devices within different price ranges and an entire software system to support the device family.

Although Li from Analysys International said some smartphone makers joined hands with Windows only to avoid being solely dependent on Google's Android, Haupter believed Windows was on the right track to challenge the existing systems in the future.

"Windows 8 has set the technology base. We are going to see more partners engaged with the new system," he said.

Contact the writer at gaoyuan@chinadaily.com.cn

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