IBM will use a low price strategy to promote sales in China of its new application management model IBM Workplace, which has been launched in the national capital Beijing and east China's Shanghai City.

"The launch of the new product is a significant move to topple the traditional model, as the most eye-catching trait of Workplace is that it can support any kind of end user environment, " said Song Jiayu, vice president with IBM Greater China Group and president of the software department of IBM Greater China Group.

"Techniques and standards open to any end user have been generally accepted as the basis for the future development of the information technology," he acknowledged.

As a completely new application management model, Workplace is the flexible integration of a series of application software and office software, said Song.

According to Song, to compete for the enterprise client market in China, the sales promotion strategy of Workplace will differ from that in other regional markets.

"In the European and American market, more than 70 percent of enterprises' budget for information technology is used on software, but as the percentage in China is less than 50, it is not wise to ask the same high price in China," said Song.

As IBM has just launched this new product in the North American market last month, it's move to launch the Workplace in China just one month later shows it has attached great importance to the Chinese market, said Song.

As Longhorn, the new edition of Microsoft's Windows system is planned to be issued after 2006, and the release of the new edition of Office will be still later, this period of time will offer a golden chance for IBM to expand its market around the world, according to the industry insiders.

(Xinhua News Agency June 22, 2004)