Shanghai is planning to double its software and information service industry revenue in 2015, as it was named China’s “Famous Software City”. Last year, software and information revenue reached CNY362.8 billion, a year-on-year growth of 18%. In this year’s first quarter, revenue reached CNY97.6 billion, also up 18%. In 2015, revenue will hit CNY600 billion and is expected to hit CNY1 trillion in 2020, according to Shanghai’s Commission of Economy and Information Technology. At present, Shanghai has 24 software firms with annual income of over CNY1 billion. The city’s new Lingang Software park in Fengxian district also opened on April 28 as part of the city’s strategy to establish 2 million square meters of IT industrial parks. Shanghai plans to  continue to develop new technologies to boost the IT industry in the city in areas such as cloud computing, mobile internet and big data analysis.

Microsoft has opened its flagship online store on Alibaba Group’s Tmall.com. It has expanded its product offering to include its own Surface media tablet and Windows-based personal computers and smartphones from brand-name manufacturers. Kevin Eagan, Vice President of E-commerce for Microsoft Retail Stores, said the company sees great potential in China’s e-commerce market. Microsoft has set up a dedicated team to oversee offers and promotions based on local consumer needs and preferences. Initially, more than 50 software and hardware products, including related technical support services, will be available at its store. Tmall.com’s President Daniel Zhang, said he expected the collaboration with Microsoft, which has long relied on traditional retail sales, would “further streamline the divide between offline and online retail offering”. Tmall.com, launched in April 2008, is the leading business-to-consumer e-commerce platform in China, with more than 70,000 major multinational and Chinese brands offered by more than 50,000 online merchants. JP Morgan has estimated that the gross merchandise value of China’s online shopping market will be USD436 billion by 2015, accounting for 8.5% of total retail sales as the country’s online population swelled to 538 million at the end of June and is expected to reach 800 million by 2015. The global consultancy firm Bain & Co has predicted that mainland China will overtake the United States as the world’s biggest e-commerce market this year. Microsoft has built partnerships with a number of local companies, including Baozun Technology, Alipay, Shunfeng and EMS. But although it is expanding investment in the e-commerce market, Microsoft does not rule out the possibility of opening physical stores in China. Eagan said: “We would say our entry strategy is online; our long-term strategy is multichannel. And our strategy is driven by wanting to serve the customers with a seamless experience regardless whether they are buying via mobile, via their computers, in local stores, in flagship stores, or even through partners.”

Shanghai Zhi Zhen Internet Technology Co is suing Apple in the Shanghai No 1 Intermediate People’s Court, alleging the firm’s use of the Siri application infringed its patent rights. Siri, a voice-activated personal assistant for iPhones and iPads, is popular among Apple fans for recognizing speech and answering queries, including calling a contact, finding the nearest gas station or checking the weather. “Siri is very similar to Xiaoi, a chat robot system we have been developing since 2003,” said Mei Li, Spokeswoman of Shanghai Zhi Zhen. She added that Siri was established in 2007 – a year after Xiaoi’s patent came into effect in China. Zhi Zhen filed a suit on June 21, 2012, asking Apple to stop producing and selling products with Siri in China. Zhi Zhen said it was not demanding compensation but asked the court to confirm its patent right. Apple has applied to China’s State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) to demand that Xiaoi’s patent be invalidated. A pre-trial hearing has been held and the full case is expected to be heard in July.

Google has too much control over China’s smartphone industry via its Android mobile operating system and has discriminated against some local firms, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has said in a white paper. It also said China had the ability to create its own mobile operating systems, which now account for only 1% of the total in use in China. “Our country’s mobile operating system research and development is too dependent on Android,” the paper said. “While the Android system is open source, the core technology and technology roadmap is strictly controlled by Google.” The paper added that Google had delayed the sharing of codes and had used commercial agreements to restrain the business development of the mobile devices of domestic companies. Analysts said the white paper, which lauded Chinese companies such as Baidu, Alibaba and Huawei for creating their own systems, could be a signal to the industry that regulations against Android are in the making. Android has been Google’s bright spot in China. In the third quarter of last year, Android accounted for 90% of all mobile operating systems in China while Apple’s iOS system was at just 4.2%. “It is not difficult to launch an operating system, but without a sound ecosystem, building an operating system will not get Chinese brands a better market share, Yang Yuanqing, Chairman and CEO of Lenovo Group said. “With Chinese IT companies continuing to gain a global presence, it will be an opportunity for us to build our own operating system in the future. But our opportunity is yet to come,” Yang added.

Chinese software developers have protested the blocking of their favorite code-sharing site, U.S.-based GitHub. Kai-Fu Lee, a former President of Google China, condemned the blocking of GitHub on his microblog. He said it made it harder for Chinese programmers to connect with overseas information technology communities and would end up damaging their competitiveness and limiting their vision. “The main reason for the blocking of GitHub was that some blogs that used the site’s service contained sensitive content,” Thomas Yao, founder of a popular Chinese site similar to GitHub, said.