The growth of the hardware industry in China is a worldwide success story. (China’s thriving hardware industry is a success story recognized throughout the world.) With annual growth in PC sales of 40% over the past five years, China is a rising star of the Asian region and one of the bright lights around the world (and also a bright star in the global galaxy).
While the software industry in China has also grown over the past five years, it has not seen the level of growth one would expect, given the number of PCs in use. (In the past five years growth of the Chinese software industry, though steady, has not been in proportion to the number of PCs.) Software revenue per PC, one measure of the health of the software industry in a market, is particularly (surprisingly) low in China compared to other countries in the region.
The primary challenge to the development of the software industry in China is rampant software piracy. (Unrestrained software piracy continues as the primary challenge to progress in China’s software industry.) Piracy is a worldwide concern of the software industry, and no country is immune.
Fortunately, the Chinese government has taken steps to create a healthier environment for the software industry to survive, including stronger laws and regulations, clearer and more effective enforcement procedures. Thus the Chinese software industry is likely to develop faster in the near future.