MICROSOFT Corp has teamed up with Alibaba.com Corp - China's largest e-commerce company - to expand its distribution channel in the world's second-largest computer market, sources said yesterday.

Microsoft will compile all its software tailored for business management of small and medium-size enterprises into different packages, including e-commerce service platform, office software and communication system, for Alibaba's customers.

Charges for the software packages are "based on their demand." In other words, users will be divided into different groups based on their needs for different levels of software to cut spending on functions they won't use.

The software packages will be marketed through Alibaba's newly established software division, Alisoft, to its nearly 19 million customers, mostly small and medium-size companies.

Liu Fei, a spokesman for Hangzhou-based Alisoft, confirmed that the two companies have reached a pact on software distribution but refused to disclose further details.

The deal was signed shortly after Bill Gates, Microsoft's chairman, met Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, on Saturday at the Boao Forum for Asia in southern China's Hainan Province.

Earlier last week, Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, announced a US$3 software package of Windows, Office and educational programs for students to promote sales in markets like China.The world's software giants are trying to expand their sales by marketing on leading Websites in China.

In January, Symantec started to market its anti-virus software on the anti-virus channel of Baidu.com, China's most popular search engine, under a strategic partnership.

Source:佚名