WPS: From Near-Death to Mobile Success | Generated by AI
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The Epic Journey of WPS: From Near-Death to Revival
The story of WPS is one of the most dramatic tales in Chinese software history—a 30+ year saga of innovation, near-collapse, and ultimate resurgence.
The Beginning (1988-1989): One Man’s Hotel Room
In 1988, a 24-year-old programmer named Qiu Bojun locked himself in a cheap Shenzhen hotel room and spent about a year writing over 100,000 lines of assembly code, even continuing to work while hospitalized with liver problems. The result was WPS 1.0, released in 1989, which filled a critical gap as China’s first Chinese-language word processing software.
By the early 1990s, WPS dominated 90% of the Chinese market—virtually everyone in China used it.
Lei Jun Joins (1992): The Dynamic Duo
In 1992, over a Peking Duck dinner near Peking University, Qiu Bojun recruited 23-year-old Lei Jun to become employee #6 at Kingsoft. Lei Jun was already a legendary programmer who had completed a 4-year computer science degree in just 2 years.
The Crisis (Mid-1990s): Windows Changes Everything
When Windows 95 and Microsoft Office entered the Chinese market with Mandarin language support in 1995, Kingsoft rapidly lost users. The company faced a perfect storm:
- Platform shift: WPS was built for DOS; Windows was the future
- Microsoft’s entry with bundled Office software
- Rampant piracy: People could buy pirated Microsoft Office for less than $1, while WPS cost $300
Around 1997, the company was running out of money. Qiu Bojun sold his own house (worth about $250,000) to fund the development of WPS 97. Despite releasing WPS 97, the product gained only some market share—far from its peak.
In 1998, Lenovo invested $4.5 million in Kingsoft, saving it from collapse. Lei Jun became general manager (later CEO) at just 28 years old.
The Survival Years (Late 1990s-2000s): Diversification
To survive, Kingsoft had to diversify beyond WPS:
- Dictionary software (iciba)
- Antivirus software
- Video players
- PC games
In 1999, Lei Jun launched the “Red Genuine Storm” strategy, slashing software prices by 80% to combat piracy and promote genuine software. But the damage was severe—Lei Jun disclosed that while there were over 5 million iciba dictionary users, the company had only sold 60,000 genuine copies in the 1990s.
The Turning Point: Format Compatibility Battle
The key to WPS’s eventual comeback was something that took 20-30 years to perfect, just as you mentioned: format compatibility with Microsoft Office.
In 2009, WPS Office 2009 was released with increased compatibility with Microsoft Office, including support for the newer 2007-version file formats (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx). This was crucial—users could now seamlessly work with Microsoft formats.
The Mobile Revolution (2011-Present): WPS’s Comeback
The international expansion accelerated in 2011 when the mobile version was launched and began rolling out outside of Asia. In 2012, Kingsoft released WPS Office for Android, marking their entry into the mobile market.
This was the game-changer. While Microsoft was slow to adapt to mobile, WPS seized the opportunity:
- WPS Office mobile apps now have close to 1.3 billion installs across Android, iOS, and Windows devices
- The company has more than 100 million daily users in China alone
- Full compatibility with Microsoft formats (.doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, .pptx)
The Success Formula
WPS succeeded by:
- Persistence through decades of losses and competition
- Format compatibility—spending 20-30 years perfecting interoperability with Microsoft Office
- Mobile-first strategy—capitalizing on the smartphone revolution
- Freemium model—offering powerful features for free
- Multi-platform support—Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS
Recent Developments (2024-2025)
In October 2025, China’s Ministry of Commerce issued official documents that can only be opened with WPS Office, not Microsoft Word or PDF formats—a stunning reversal from the 1990s when Microsoft was crushing WPS.
The story of WPS is truly remarkable: from one programmer in a hotel room, to market dominance, to near-extinction, to a decades-long struggle for compatibility, and finally to global success in the mobile era. It’s a testament to persistence and strategic adaptation.