The opening of the Wyse Asia-Pacific headquarters closely follows the recent appointment of Wyse's regional directors to lead the expansion of the company on the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and in Taiwan.

Wyse is also investing in local Chinese Internet technology (IT) talent with the establishment of a software research and development center.

"Our software development center in Beijing will grow to include more than 50 engineers by the end of this year. The team will ensure complete localization of Wyse Technology products for China and the rest of Asia," said Andrew Hu, Wyse Asia Pacific President. He previously worked for Oracle, Network Appliances and consulting firm Accenture.

"It will also work on further intensive development of our operating systems."

Hu hopes Wyse will capitalize on its prominent market position.

"Now is the right time to focus our efforts on promoting thin technology as a compelling solution for enterprises throughout Asia Pacific," he said.

"China is clearly one of the most strategic markets for the company as a whole, and certainly at the center of our plans for Asia-Pacific," Hu said.

"When you look at the sheer size of less developed markets like the Chinese mainland, you see an immense need for desktop computing, whether in financial, logistics or manufacturing industries, or in the public sector. The huge numbers involved really brings into focus the low and manageable total cost of ownership of thin computing solutions," Hu added.

According to a report by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), Wyse had nearly 35 percent of all thin clients shipped in 2004 in Asia-Pacific.

IDC predicts the thin client market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 25.9 percent from 2005 to 2009 in the Asia-Pacific region, significantly outpacing the overall growth rate of the PC market.

Thin computing aims to simplify computing by providing hardware, software, and services to users through a server.

(China Daily October 25, 2005)