The sales revenue of China's Linux market in the first three quarters of this year reached 126.6 million Yuan, up 17% year-on- year, though China's Linux market's growth rate slowed down in the third quarter, with sales reaching 45.5 million Yuan, up 29% year-on-year, according to CCID Consulting.

The main reason for the slowdown is the global financial crisis. Investments in informatization are becoming more cautious, the postponing and cancellations of system construction have led to a drop in Linux shipment. Moreover, new markets in banking and telecom are yet to be cultivated, with open-source application in server-end still around the periphery of the core application.

Local player Red Flag Software maintains strong ties with the public sector in China, building its projects in government, education and transportation field, thus guaranteeing the largest market share in China's Linux market in the third quarter. The company is also actively taking part in the Intel Moblin project and exerting force in the mobile Linux market. Red Flag Software cooperates with application manufacturers, such as Tencent QQ and Alipay, and OEM partners, such as Lenovo, Aigo, BenQ and Hitachi to promote the mobile Internet device (MID) platform. The company also cooperates with ISV to promote Midinux.

CCID Consulting forecasts that the growth rate of China's Linux market in the fourth quarter will not likely to go back to a high level. Clients are seeking to control their IT purchasing budgets, limiting centralized purchasing decisions.