The soft business
Microsoft`s local operations outperform equivalent markets, says local MD Gordon Frazer; while moving intellectual capital makes the geographical remoteness and economic instability almost bearable.
31 July 2003
Selling bits of paper that state that you own something is, as lawyers, banks, estate agents and stockbrokers know, a good business to be in.
The company has reached a position where 90 percent of revenue comes from fancy bits of hologrammed paper, rather than shipping actual boxes from Ireland. As a result, its cost of sales is dramatically lower than for the unfortunates dealing in hard goods. This has also resulted in a worldwide reduction in "grey" products (software that bypasses, legally or illegally, distribution channels authorised by Microsoft).
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