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.
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