[quotemsg=21710442,0,5190][quotemsg=21709240,0,2012116]Part of the new trade war or part of business as usual with China?
My guess is that they got the technology transfer they were after and saw no more use for Microsoft.[/quotemsg]
Business as usual.
What technology transfer? I've seen plenty of transfers and thefts regarding China over the years, but what did they get in this case?[/quotemsg]
A couple scenarios where it COULD be the case. Stipulating of course the obvious, that none of us can know for sure and are just speculating, we DO know for certain that China requires companies doing business on the mainland, and which host "end-user data" (which could be defined as a simple search engine query) to be hosted in-country. There are varying degrees of compliance of course, but almost none of the big boys get away with thumbing their nose that this requirement entirely.
Search engine algorithms and code is valuable IP, and if Microsoft didn't adequately separate these jewels from the in-country component (for performance or other reasons), then Microsoft would hardly be the first to have that IP stolen, as the "in-country" laws primary exist as a state-sponsored mechanism to accommodate theft.
Basically, if you want the market, you almost have to give up ownership of your IP. And they get away with it all the time. Sometimes you can get around it via Taiwan, but only in very limited circumstances.