Microsoft is currently being investigated in China for suspected anti-trust violations related to Microsoft Office and Windows. An anti-trust regulator in China recently conducted new raids on the company.
The State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) raided Microsoft's offices in different locations across the country. Offices in Hubei, Fujian, Liaoning and Beijing were raided, as well as, Accenture's Dalian office. The latter is an IT consultancy firm, which partnered with Microsoft in China to do financial work.
Microsoft was earlier told not to disrupt investigations in China and the company seems to have no problem with that.
"We're serious about complying with China's laws and committed to addressing SAIC's questions and concerns," a spokeswoman of Microsoft Beijing said.
"We can confirm that, as required by Chinese laws, we are cooperating with investigators of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce and are helping provide them with certain information related to one of our clients," affirmed Accenture Greater China in an e-mail.
The SAIC is determined to review the activities of Microsoft. The latter has been suspected of anti-monopoly law violation since June 2013. The issue has something to do with the Windows and Microsoft Office's document authorization, bundling, and compatibility in China.
Microsoft has been the subject of scrutiny since the cyber espionage revelations of Edward Snowden, former contractor of the U.S. National Security Agency. Recently, the company's Windows 8 operating system was banned from being installed on the government's latest computers. Its cloud storage service, the OneDrive, was also interrupted in China.
Foreign technology firms in China are being reviewed and this kind of investigation is expected. Apart from Microsoft, German automaker Mercedes-Benz and mobile chipset manufacturer Qualcomm Inc. are also being investigated.
The Chinese government seems to be serious with its fight that numerous foreign companies are being punished or being slapped with fines. Mean Johnson Nutrition Co and Danon SA had been previously slapped with fines after investigations. Auto manufacturers Chrysler of Fiat Spa and Volkswagen-owned Audi will also be punished together with ten more Japanese spare-part makers. All of them have been questioned for issues of anti-trust violations.
