The head of eBay Inc was in town yesterday to further stress her company's commitment to the Taiwan market, saying although Yahoo-Kimo is its rival, the two companies may have the chance to cooperate in the future.
"Right now in Taiwan eBay and Yahoo are competitors because both of us are trying to build marketplaces?[but] we would like to have a dialog with Yahoo-Kimo in the future," said Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay.
Whitman said eBay's relationship with Yahoo varies by countries and by regions. In Europe, for instance, the two are partners where in May eBay started offering auction services for Yahoo. In the US, eBay is so large that Yahoo chooses not to emphasize its auction business there.
PHOTO: HUANG REI-PO, TAIPEI TIMES
"However [in Taiwan] in any respect both of these two companies are expanding their e-commerce business and so it's actually a good thing to have two players because we are growing the market together," Whitman said.
In a recent interview with the Taipei Times, Yahoo-Kimo's general manager Rose Tsou (鄒開蓮) said their strategy was to topple eBay.
"There are not many online auction companies in Taiwan, and we are very confident the edge between us and eBay Taiwan is miles apart," Tsou said. "We absolutely want to be in Yahoo Japan's position: successfully defeating eBay Japan and become the market winner."
In an effort to boost traffic, eBay Taiwan has cooperated with major Internet portals -- PC Home online (網路家庭), Yam.com (蕃薯藤), MSN, Sina (新浪網) and Hinet, except of Yahoo-Kimo.
Whitman had her first visit to Taiwan yesterday after finishing trips in Shanghai and Seoul early this week.
eBay entered Taiwan in late February by fully purchasing local e-commerce venture NeoCom Technology Co (力傳資訊), along with its two shopping Web sites -- ubid.com.tw (買賣王) and bid.com.tw (拍賣王) -- for over US$9.5 million.
Even users of eBay in western countries have to pay for membership before selling stuff online, currently eBay doesn't charge Taiwanese users and all of the company's revenue come from advertising.
According to Whitman, pay-service is eBay's essential business model but it won't charge Taiwanese users until the market is ready.
"It depends on how the market develops?currently the most important thing is to build a vibrant marketplace which sellers and buyers are satisfied with," she said, adding that "it's impossible to tell right now when [we will charge] in Taiwan."
This is Whitman's first visit to Taiwan after going to Shanghai and Seoul early this week.
In late March eBay invested US$ 30 million to buy a 33-percent stake in Chinese auction site EachNet, the biggest online trading community in China with 3.5 million registered users.
A year ago, eBay acquired a 51 percent stake in South Korea's largest online auction business, Internet Auction Co, for about US$120 million.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
Industrial production expanded 22.31 percent annually last month to 107.51, as increases in demand for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications drove demand for locally-made chips and components. The manufacturing production index climbed 23.68 percent year-on-year to 108.37, marking the 14th consecutive month of increase, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. In the first four months of this year, industrial and manufacturing production indices expanded 14.31 percent and 15.22 percent year-on-year, ministry data showed. The growth momentum is to extend into this month, with the manufacturing production index expected to rise between 11 percent and 15.1 percent annually, Department of Statistics
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald