The California based online marketplace eBay Inc is poised to set up shop in Taiwan and is working on finding local partners and is recruiting staff, an industry insider said yesterday.
"They are looking for local partners and office space to for a Taiwan branch," said a Taipei public relations official tied to eBay that requested anonymity.
Founded in 1995, eBay creates online auction platforms that allow Internet users to buy and sell products on Web.
The venture reported US$90.4 million in net income or 74 percent net revenue growth last year, and forecast sales to hit US$3 billion in 2005.
The proposed Taipei office is expected to follow the business model of several other Asian branches, Chinese-media reported.
Setting up its newest branch office in Singapore in October of last year, currently eBay offers online trading services in 17 markets around the world, including North America, Europe, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand.
An official with eBay Hong Kong declined to confirm or deny the news yesterday.
In addition, the Chinese media also reported eBay was seeking to recruit Raymond Chang (
Giga Media later confirmed the news, saying eBay had held talks with Chang about the appointment.
"But Chang declined eBay's offer and decided to stay with us," said Christine Feng (范家馨), public relations manager at Giga Media.
eBay's recruiting plan is in line with the firm's regional strategy.
"Based on our business models in the Japanese and Korean markets, when eBay comes to a new market, we like to localize our operations," said the eBay Hong Kong official.
One local competitor said it won't be easy for a foreign online auction operator to succeed in Taiwan.
"First, they have to establish good connections with local product suppliers, delivery system operators and payment networks," said David Chuang (莊思凌), deputy manager at Coolbid.com (酷必得), a local e-commerce Web site.
Chuang said the online auction market in Taiwan is not as profitable as in the US.
"A successful auction mechanism relies on a large population [base]. The number of Internet users in America is much more than in Taiwan," Chuang said.
That's why Coolbid.com, got out of the online auction service and decided to instead focus on e-commerce, he explained.
"Now, about 80 percent of our sales come from selling products online. That's where our profits come from," Chuang said.
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
WARNING: From Jan. 1 last year to the end of last month, 89 Taiwanese have gone missing or been detained in China, the MAC said, urging people to carefully consider travel to China Lax enforcement had made virtually moot regulations banning civil servants from making unauthorized visits to China, the Control Yuan said yesterday. Several agencies allowed personnel to travel to China after they submitted explanations for the trip written using artificial intelligence or provided no reason at all, the Control Yuan said in a statement, following an investigation headed by Control Yuan member Lin Wen-cheng (林文程). The probe identified 318 civil servants who traveled to China without permission in the past 10 years, but the true number could be close to 1,000, the Control Yuan said. The public employees investigated were not engaged in national
CAUSE AND EFFECT: China’s policies prompted the US to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific, and Beijing should consider if this outcome is in its best interests, Lai said China has been escalating its military and political pressure on Taiwan for many years, but should reflect on this strategy and think about what is really in its best interest, President William Lai (賴清德) said. Lai made the remark in a YouTube interview with Mindi World News that was broadcast on Saturday, ahead of the first anniversary of his presidential inauguration tomorrow. The US has clearly stated that China is its biggest challenge and threat, with US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth repeatedly saying that the US should increase its forces in the Indo-Pacific region
ALL TOGETHER: Only by including Taiwan can the WHA fully exemplify its commitment to ‘One World for Health,’ the representative offices of eight nations in Taiwan said The representative offices in Taiwan of eight nations yesterday issued a joint statement reiterating their support for Taiwan’s meaningful engagement with the WHO and for Taipei’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA). The joint statement came as Taiwan has not received an invitation to this year’s WHA, which started yesterday and runs until Tuesday next week. This year’s meeting of the decisionmaking body of the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, would be the ninth consecutive year Taiwan has been excluded. The eight offices, which reaffirmed their support for Taiwan, are the British Office Taipei, the Australian Office Taipei, the