Microsoft Corp’s joint venture Shanghai Wicresoft Co (微創軟件) is to cease its operations in China from today, a move that would lead to about 2,000 employees being laid off, Chinese media outlet Caijing reported on Monday, citing sources.
The move is in line with Microsoft’s decision to stop outsourcing after-sales support in China to Wicresoft, Caijing said, raising questions about how the US technology firm would service China-based users of its Windows and Office products.
The report said the closure would lead to layoffs mainly in the 2,000-strong Microsoft outsourcing team in China.
Photo: Tingshu Wang, Reuters
Wicresoft did not respond to a request for comment.
Microsoft is pulling back from the Chinese market amid growing political and trade tensions between Washington and Beijing, and stiff competition from Chinese rivals such as Kingsoft Corp (金山軟件).
Information technology services provider Wicresoft was founded in 2002 as Microsoft’s first joint venture in China, and it also operates in the US, Europe and Japan with a global headcount of more than 10,000, Wicresoft’s Web site says.
Microsoft closed a Shanghai laboratory focused on developing Internet of Things and artificial intelligence technologies earlier this year, the <
A screen shot of an internal e-mail circulated on Chinese social media on Monday, indicating Microsoft was shutting down its operations in China.
A Microsoft spokesperson said that this was inaccurate, while Caijing said it referred to Wicresoft..
The EU and US are nearing an agreement to coordinate on producing and securing critical minerals, part of a push to break reliance on Chinese supplies. The potential deal would create incentives, such as minimum prices, that could advantage non-Chinese suppliers, according to a draft of an “action plan” seen by Bloomberg. The EU and US would also cooperate on standards, investments and joint projects, as well as coordinate on any supply disruptions by countries like China. The two sides are additionally seeking other “like-minded partners” to join a multicountry accord to help create these new critical mineral supply chains, which feed into
Elon Musk’s lieutenants have reached out to chip industry suppliers, including Applied Materials Inc, Tokyo Electron Ltd and Lam Research Corp, for his envisioned Terafab, early steps in an audacious and likely arduous attempt to break into the production of cutting-edge chips. Staff working for the joint venture between Tesla Inc and Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) have sought price quotes and delivery times for an array of chipmaking gear, people familiar with the matter said. In past weeks, they’ve contacted makers of photomasks, substrates, etchers, depositors, cleaning devices, testers and other tools, according to the people, who asked not to
Japan approved ￥631.5 billion (US$3.97 billion) in additional subsidies to hasten Rapidus Corp’s entry into the high-stakes artificial intelligence (AI) chipmaking arena, ramping up support for a project widely regarded as a long shot. The capital is intended to bankroll Rapidus’ work for information technology firm Fujitsu Ltd, one of the initial customers that Tokyo hopes would get the signature endeavor off the ground. The new money raises the fees and investments that the government is injecting into the start-up to ￥2.6 trillion by the end of the current fiscal year to March next year, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and
The founder of Chinese property giant Evergrande Group (恆大集團) has pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and bribery, a court said yesterday, the latest blow for what was once the country’s leading developer. Evergrande’s rise was propelled by decades of rapid urbanization and rising living standards, but in 2020, its access to credit dramatically narrowed when the government introduced curbs on excessive borrowing and speculation. The company defaulted in 2021 after struggling to repay creditors. Founder Xu Jiayin (許家印), 67, known as Hui Ka Yan in Cantonese, was reportedly held by police in 2023, with Evergrande saying he had been subjected to
RSS