Microsoft reports to have increased its sales in Belarus by 50 percent in 2006 :: Charter'97 :: News

Microsoft Corporation increased its sales in Belarus by 50 percent in 2006, Valery Lanovenko, general director for Ukraine and Belarus, told reporters in Minsk on February 15. He said that Microsoft is "very optimistic" about the prospects for its new products, in particular Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 2007, in Belarus. Both products are now on sale in 70 countries, including Belarus, he added.

On March 1, Microsoft plans to open a technical assistance phone line to support legal users of software.

"Our company is very optimistic about the growth of the Belarusian market," said Mr. Lanovenko, adding that the Belarusian IT market grows faster than those of other East European countries.

According to Microsoft, some 100,000 computers are annually supplied to Belarus, which Mr. Lanovenko said testifies to an active increase in the number of PC users and, therefore, in the number of users of Microsoft products.

Mr. Lanovenko said that the company currently develops a Belarusian-language version of the Windows XP Language Interface Pack. "There are no technological problems for carrying out this project, but we need to study the demand and the possible base of users of the Belarusian-language version. A discussion is underway, but we incline to believe that the Belarusian-language version should be released," he said. //BelaPAN