The head of the Chinese government agency investigating Microsoft for alleged monopoly actions said Tuesday the probe includes the way the US technology giant distributes its media player and browser.<\/p>\n
The State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) announced last month that it was investigating Microsoft over its Windows operating system — which is used on the vast majority of computers in China — and the Office suite of programmes.<\/p>\n
Zhang Mao, head and Communist Party chief of the SAIC, told a news conference in Beijing that Microsoft had failed fully to disclose information about its software.<\/p>\n
He added the agency, one of the government bodies which enforces China’s anti-monopoly law, was also looking into “issues” with Microsoft’s media player and browser, according to a transcript posted online.<\/p>\n
Microsoft has previously faced anti-trust investigations in other markets for tying the company’s Windows system to its other products.<\/p>\n
The European Commission fined it $731 million in March last year for failing to offer users browser choices beyond its own Internet Explorer.<\/p>\n
“Through repeated contact with Microsoft, their top-level executives have shown respect for China’s laws, (and) cooperated with China’s anti-monopoly investigation,” Zhang said.<\/p>\n
Microsoft has said it seeks to comply with Chinese law. Its comments came after the official announcement of the investigation, which included raids on its offices in the country.<\/p>\n
In May China also banned the use of Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system on all new government computers, as reports alleging security concerns circulated.<\/p>\n
State media have blasted Microsoft for its share of the operating system market in China, claimed to be as high as 95 percent, saying it forms a “de facto monopoly”.<\/p>\n
China — which is embroiled in a long-running cyberspying row with the US — is planning to introduce a homegrown operating system as early as October to reduce the country’s reliance on Microsoft, the official China Daily newspaper reported on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The Microsoft probe comes as foreign firms doing business in the huge Chinese market face apparent greater scrutiny.<\/p>\n
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