WPS Office

WPS Office, formerly known as simply WPS (Word Processing System), is a product developed by Kingsoft (China) as an alternative to Microsoft Office aimed at the Chinese market. WPS Office 2002, released in 2002, was considered by many a serious competitor to the dominant Microsoft Office (MS Office) Simplified Chinese edition for its much lower cost and an user interface that perfectly replicates MS Office's. Many local Chinese governments including Beijing and Guangdong licensed thousands of copies of WPS Office immediately after the People's Republic of China (PRC) joined the WTO (World Trade Organization). Shanghai, however still opted for the more expensive MS Office.

Table of contents

1 Early dominance 2 Losing grounds to MS Office 3 Revival 4 2003 and beyond 5 External Link

Early dominance

WPS started life as a MS-DOS word processor. WPS maintained an enormous user base through out the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, high level of piracy in China at that time ensured that enormous user base did not translate into enormous profits.

Losing grounds to MS Office

As MS Office 95, along with Windows 95, was introduced into the Chinese market, the influence and sales of WPS went into steep decline. Faced with stiff foreign competition and high level of domestic piracy, Kingsoft was nearly bankrupt by the end of 1995. Kingsoft chief software architect Qiu Bo Jun, in a heroic attempt to revive the company, injected 4 million Yuan (apprx US$500,000 in 2003) into the company by selling his private mansion, and began the development of WPS 97 for Windows. When WPS 97 was released in 1997, it struggled to compete with MS Office 97. There were many reasons for that:

• MS Office 97 was in widespread use and users were reluctant to switch
• MS Office 97 offers more features than WPS 97
• WPS was still just a word processor with no spreadsheet or presentation application

In May 2001, Kingsoft launched WPS Office, which included a word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation software. Again it struggled to compete with the more powerful MS Office 2000.

Revival

In 2002, WPS Office 2002 surfaced as the next version of WPS Office and added to its bundle an email client. In a move hailed by many, WPS Office 2002 cloned MS Office's user interface to the very last detail and as a result dramatically reduced the amount of retraining required to migrate from MS Office. However, critics labeled the strategic move as "the death of software innovation".

When the PRC joined the WTO, the Chinese look to rid their state-owned computers of pirated software. Kingsoft won big contracts and licensed, to many local Chinese governments including Beijing and Guangdong, thousands of copies of WPS Office. Shanghai, however, was unmoved by the low cost of WPS Office and still opted for the more expensive MS Office.

2003 and beyond

WPS Office plans to branch into Linux in the near future, announcing the development of WPS Office V6 as a multiplatform product early 2003.

In August 2003, WPS Office 2003 was released to the exciting news that computers used in civil services by the Chinese government will slowly move to running only domestic-made software.

In the same month, Microsoft China warned of legal actions against the Shanghai education deparment for illegal use of Microsoft Office products on their computers. Nearly all public schools in Shanghai are affected. The education department decided against purchasing more licenses from Microsoft and struck a deal with Kingsoft to license 45,000--50,000 copies of WPS Office 2003.

External Link

• Official homepage (in simplified Chinese)