Satya Nadella states that Microsoft is active in China but not solely focused on the local market.
Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, mentioned in an interview with CNBC that the company is not primarily concentrated on China as a native market, but it does have significant Chinese customers engaged in business activities beyond the country’s borders.
The 56-year-old Microsoft CEO, considered one of the most prominent Indian executives globally, stated, “We are mostly focused on global markets outside of China. Many multinational Chinese companies operating outside of China are among our major customers for AI services.”
Microsoft provides AI-based services to Li Auto, an electric vehicle manufacturer, and also serves Xiaomi.
Nadella’s comments come at a time when top executives from the tech industry attended a dinner hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping in the heart of San Francisco. Notable figures, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, were present at the event.
The United States and China have tense trade relations, often taking positions against each other’s native companies. While the U.S. has imposed stringent sanctions on Chinese companies like Huawei and SMIC, China has retaliated against American company Micron (a producer of RAM and storage memory).
Compared to its competitors, Microsoft has a more visible presence in the Chinese market. Social media platforms Instagram and Facebook, owned by Meta, are filtered in China, and the same applies to Google’s search engine. Amazon, another American tech giant, closed its online marketplace in China in 2019.
Microsoft states on its official website that it has been operating in the Chinese market since 1992, with its largest overseas research and development center located in China. Unlike Google, Microsoft’s search engine Bing is accessible in China. Bing became the top desktop search engine in China for a brief period after incorporating artificial intelligence but quickly relinquished its position to Baidu.
Despite these engagements, Nadella emphasizes that the U.S. government imposes strict limitations on trade with China and Chinese companies. He notes that Microsoft operates within the framework of these laws, unlike Apple, which derives a significant portion of its revenue from China. However, Microsoft, as a major player, has established part of its Surface laptop production line in China.
