CCID Consulting, China's leading research, consulting and IT outsourcing service provider, and the first Chinese consulting firm listed in Hong Kong (Hong Kong Stock Exchange: HK08235), recently released its article on China's Linux market, which grew by 29.2% and has great prospects for its new Linux Desktop.
CCID Consulting's analysis of their most recent data has shown that the sales revenue of China's Linux market has reached 40.3 million Yuan in 2007Q3, up by 29.2% over 2006Q1. Linux maintained solid growth, showing the prosperity of China's Linux market.
Thanks to clients, servers are improving with greater requirements from brand names and the increasing capabilities of the manufacturers. Large manufacturers such as Red Flag Software, Turbolinux, China Standard Software, Novell and Red Hat hold the absolute market share. The competition between large manufacturers has heated up with large manufacturers developing channels of cooperation to reinforce their strengths in the market, as shown in the recent cooperation with Microsoft and Asianux's nascent company.
With large PC manufacturers pre-installing Linux Desktop, Linux Desktop has increased 25.1%, and become the flash point in the Linux market in 2007Q3. The factors driving the growth of the Desktop are threefold. First of all, "copyrighted software" policies jointly implemented by the four major ministries and commissions have benefited Linux. Many PC manufacturers now tend to pre-install Linux Desktop over other desktop software because the costs are relatively lower. Second of all, with the maturity, easy usability, security, stability and compatibility of Linux technology strengthening, Linux is a stronger choice on the market. Thirdly, Linux's ability to be customized according to the needs of hotels, lotteries, and the country provides Linux Desktop with more opportunities. This customized model could very well be Linux Desktop's breakthrough into the market.
However, Linux Desktop also faces some barriers to growth. In the first place, the effect of Microsoft on desktops has always hindered Linux's development. Many users have become accustomed to the Microsoft operating systems, making the switchover a difficult process. In addition, the utilization ratio of Linux in current pre-installing Linux Desktop PCs could still be improved. In current OEMs, some manufacturers merely pre-install the Linux operating system by itself, without any internet applications. Some manufacturers give users the free version of Linux without actually installing it. How to improve the utilization ratio of the pre- install Linux is a problem for Linux Desktop manufacturers. Lastly, deficiencies of the upstream and downstream manufacturers' support, as well as the related application software, hinders the development of the Linux Desktop. CCID Consulting thinks that Linux Desktop will maintain its solid growth by developing necessary application software and improving on the industry chain.