Microsoft Consolidates Retail Channels in China

FILE PHOTO: A person walks past a Microsoft sign at its office building in Beijing, China May 25, 2023. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A person walks past a Microsoft sign at its office building in Beijing, China May 25, 2023. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
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Microsoft Consolidates Retail Channels in China

FILE PHOTO: A person walks past a Microsoft sign at its office building in Beijing, China May 25, 2023. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A person walks past a Microsoft sign at its office building in Beijing, China May 25, 2023. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo

Microsoft is consolidating its retail channels in mainland China, the firm said in response to media reports that it is closing its network of authorized physical retailers in the world's second-largest economy.
Microsoft did not confirm or deny the closures and did not comment on the number of authorized stores that would be impacted by the consolidation, in response to a request for comment from Reuters.
"Microsoft continually assesses its retail strategy to meet the evolving needs of our valued customers and we’ve made the decision to focus our channel approach in Mainland China," it said in a statement.
Microsoft products would still be available in the mainland via its retail partners and its own website, it added.
Microsoft does not directly operate physical retail stores in China and it did not elaborate on which retail partners would continue to stock its products in the China market.



Oracle to Invest $6.5 Bn in Malaysian Cloud Services Region

(FILES) US multinational computer technology company Oracle's logo is pictured at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the telecom industry's biggest annual gathering, in Barcelona on February 27, 2024. (Photo by PAU BARRENA / AFP)
(FILES) US multinational computer technology company Oracle's logo is pictured at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the telecom industry's biggest annual gathering, in Barcelona on February 27, 2024. (Photo by PAU BARRENA / AFP)
TT

Oracle to Invest $6.5 Bn in Malaysian Cloud Services Region

(FILES) US multinational computer technology company Oracle's logo is pictured at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the telecom industry's biggest annual gathering, in Barcelona on February 27, 2024. (Photo by PAU BARRENA / AFP)
(FILES) US multinational computer technology company Oracle's logo is pictured at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the telecom industry's biggest annual gathering, in Barcelona on February 27, 2024. (Photo by PAU BARRENA / AFP)

Tech giant Oracle on Wednesday said it plans to invest more than $6.5 billion on cloud services data centers in Malaysia, joining a list of US titans rushing to build up their AI infrastructure in Southeast Asia.

The firm said the cloud region would help organizations in the country modernize their applications, migrate their workload to the cloud and innovate with data, analytics and artificial intelligence.

Oracle is working to expand its cloud infrastructure business globally. The company recently projected it will surpass $100 billion in revenue in fiscal 2029, driven by increasing demand for cloud services.

Malaysia's new cloud region will be the firm's third in Southeast Asia, following two facilities in neighboring Singapore.

"Malaysia offers unique growth opportunities for organizations looking to accelerate their expansion with the latest digital technologies," Garrett Ilg, Oracle's executive vice president for Japan and Asia Pacific, said in a statement.

"Our multi-billion-dollar investment affirms our commitment to Malaysia as a regional gateway for cloud infrastructure as well as a comprehensive suite of software as a service applications deployed within Malaysia."

The statement also quoted Malaysia's Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz as welcoming the investment, saying it would help firms with innovative and cutting-edge AI and cloud technologies to boost their global competitiveness.

"Oracle's decision to establish a public cloud region in Malaysia underscores Malaysia's infrastructure readiness, and its growing position as a premier Southeast Asian destination for digital investments," he added.

Oracle is the latest global tech giant to announce major digital investments in Southeast Asia. Google-parent Alphabet said in May it would invest $2 billion to house the firm's first data center in Malaysia.

Google on Monday said it plans to invest $1 billion to build digital infrastructure in Thailand, including a new data center.

Amazon and Microsoft have also announced investments worth billions of dollars in the region as demand for AI hots up.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Tuesday announced that the country plans to develop a National Cloud Policy.