Microsoft owes growth in RP to OEM partners

CEBU, Philippines – The leading software manufacturer in the world, Microsoft continues to see growth in the Philippine market, especially through its partnership with OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) in the country.

Andrew Hoare, Microsoft Philippines OEM distributor account manager said the company's OEM team has augmented the sale of Microsoft's products in the country.

OEM refers to companies that make products for others to repackage and sell. This marketing strategy is used by many industries but are most prevalent in the electronics industry.

Microsoft has been partnering with OEMs, specifically manufacturers of personal computers to bundle their products with the PCs.

With regard to the growing threat of the open source operating system to the Window's operating system, Hoare said the company is taking this as a challenge, saying “competition is always good” for any company.

Meanwhile, he said the Philippine economy is going for the better based on Microsoft's sales growth in the first half the year from that of the same period last year.

“Philippines, specifically the Cebu market is a very, very important market for Microsoft. We have a lot of partners here. There are more people in the Philippines into technology than that in Australia, where I come from,” he told the press on the sidelines of the opening of the Computer Manufacturers, Dealers and Distributors Association of the Philippines at the SM City Cebu Trade Hall recently.

Microsoft is one of the big information technology company-exhibitors of the event.