SAP AG, Europe's biggest enterprise software vendor, opened a new research center in Shanghai yesterday with plans to triple the number of research employees in China to 1,800 in 2008.

 

This is the latest move by SAP to penetrate the domestic enterprise software market valued at US$3 billion annually and compete against rivals including Oracle and Microsoft.

 

At present, the Shanghai center in Zhangjiang High-Tech Park is one of SAP's top five research hubs globally along with those in Australia, Japan, South Korea and India.

 

The center, staffed with 450 employees, will serve clients in Asia Pacific as well as Europe and the United States.

 

"It is a milestone as we now 'invent-in-China' instead of 'made-in-China"', Jui Shang-ling, SAP Labs China president, said at the opening ceremony.

 

In the past nine years, SAP China's revenue surged 70 percent annually on average and the company will continue to grow rapidly through the center, which will be expanded in 2008.

 

The revenue in the Chinese software market will hit US$6.23 billion in 2009 from 2004's US$2.65 billion, according to IDC.

 

Separately, Oracle said it will invest heavily to set up sales offices or research centers in 26 second-tier cities in China by the end of this year.

 

Overseas companies, which invest heavily in research, are among the most-profitable in the high-end enterprise software market, IDC said.

 

(Shanghai Daily March 24, 2006)