Survivors of the dotcom shakeout are finding new ways to show investors the Internet Revolution really can bring profits. From hiring themselves out as Web page consultants and software providers to pushing Internet Telephony as the next great draw, companies like Taiwan's Yam.com (
"The days of investing on hype are gone forever," said Yam co-founder and chairman Chen Jeng-rang (
His company has moved swiftly forward to focusing on building revenue and driving toward profitability in order to convince investors the company is the real thing ahead of an initial public offering expected sometime later this year.
Ranked as Taiwan's second most popular Web site behind Kimo.com, Yam announced a number of revenue-generating plans yesterday, most of which capitalize on the company's high-tech expertise in software writing for example. Yam started out as a Chinese-language search engine based on software developed by Chen and a few partners.
Since then, the firm has developed Web software to handle online payments, build Web pages, collect and sort customer information and make the Net perform other services. Now, Yam will even develop whatever Web capability a customer wants on a contract basis.
Chen also sees the wireless Web and Internet Telephony as opportunities for Yam to sell Internet software and services. The company has already set up a simplified messaging system (SMS) -- short e-mails sent to Net-enabled mobile phones -- and a unified messaging system (UMS) to allow all home, mobile phone, fax and e-mail messages to go to one mailbox. This wireless technology can be purchased and used by companies looking for ways to use the Net for the benefit of employees.
Although dotcom companies like Yam are working harder to make money, UBS Warburg Internet analyst, William Dong (董成康), says the industry is "still going through a transitional stage" which will continue for the next 12 to 16 months.
The continuing consolidation of weaker companies -- by failure or being bought out -- still makes Internet investing a dangerous venture. Once the shuffle is over, however, "this [industry] could turn around very quickly," he said.
One of the services expected to drive Internet growth over the next year is Internet Telephony, according to Yam.com's Chen, along with a number of industry pundits. Attaching an Internet-phone or "I-phone" to a home line or setting up an Internet phone through Microsoft Network or Yahoo can transform a computer with Internet connection into a worldwide telephone, free, so long as the recipient also has an I-phone or Web site connection. The only fees paid are the monthly service fees collected by the ISPs.
Internet Telephony, which flopped when first introduced a few years ago due to poor sound quality, runs much better now, according to Carl Nicolai, president of the ISP, TranSend.
A 28k modem is enough for quality phone calls over the Net, while 128k of bandwidth will add decent video-conferencing capability to a computer. "With bandwidth, everything is possible," Nicolai said.
Although companies like Cisco Systems now offer Internet Phones -- that look and operate just like real telephones -- to people reluctant to get online via a computer, such devices are illegal in Taiwan.
With the ability to bypass traditional international lines -- and the billing process -- industry protectors say I-phones could destroy the local telecom industry.
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