Microsoft to boost China R&D staff by 10%

A Microsoft (MSFT.NASDAQ) executive said the company plans to increase its research and development staff in China by about 10% in 2011 to strengthen its capabilities in smart phones, search and cloud computing, the Wall Street Journal reported. Microsoft will add 300-400 R&D staff in China, joining an existing team of 3,000 in the country, said Ya-Qin Zhang, the company’s Asia-Pacific R&D chairman. “We will continue to work to improve Windows, our next generation of office products which is more cloud based, and search and advertising. We will also invest heavily on consumer products such as our Windows phone, TV and gaming platforms,” Zhang said.