In Asia, Microsoft sees slow start for budget XP

The cut-rate version debuted in Malaysia and Indonesia in February.

A major challenge is combatting piracy, which floods markets with cheap bootleg copies of Windows software.

In Kuala Lumpur, for example, bootleg copies of Windows XP go for less than $5.

The company also offers a similar system featuring Starter Edition that costs $443.

Microsoft declined to provide sales figures for the new operating system in Thailand.

Gilliland attributed the tepid response largely to high piracy rates.

In Malaysia, Microsoft has set the pricing of Starter Edition at $32 (120 ringgits).

“They don’t really make much profit from the OS (operating system) component of the PC.

They will be priced between $342 (1,300 ringgits) and $395, a company representative said.

“To really address the affordability of a PC, what really helps is financing,” he said.

Winston Chai reports forCNetAsia.

CNETAsia’s Cordelia Lee contributed to this report.