Although the overall market for Linux in China is relatively small on the global scale, at around $5.4 million for the first quarter of this year, the China-based
CCID Consulting group reports that the actual sales value has shot up by a whopping 22.6 percent during the last year. This would seem to be partly because of the broadening of distribution channels by manufacturers, and the increased approval by government and telecoms alike, especially outside of the usual major cities of Beijing and Shanghai. CCID is certainly seeing much more in the way of Linux uptake in what it calls the second- and third-tier cities as well as the much poorer regions of Western China.
CCID also suggests that smaller vendors do not feel the same pressure as the Lenovos of this world to include Windows with pretty much every PC sold within China, and those smaller vendors are turning to Linux in order to shave precious points off the bottom line production cost. Savings which can be passed on to the consumer. That said, it also appears that many consumers are using the cheaper Linux PCs as a quick and cost effective route to Windows courtesy of the piracy problem which is widespread within the country.
