eBay admits FAILURE in China, eBay Eachnet to close, Tom Online to run new China JV auction site

[Kristijntje]

Various Chinese media outlets are reporting that Chinese portal Tom Online has been holding talks since the beginning of the year to acquire the struggling Ebay Eachnet (Ebay China) auction site.

story: http://www.chinatechnews.com/index.php?action=show&type=news&id=3716

more information on Tom Online here: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=TOMO

[xppman]

Maybe Tom can use the "Make An Offer" feature for like 1 million.

[Kristijntje]

eBay Eachnet CEO Wu Shixiong denied rumors that Tom Online (Nasdaq: TOMO) would absorb eBay's assets in China,

http://www.pacificepoch.com/newsstories/57065_0_5_0_M

[bargainbloodhound]

[quote author=Kristijntje link=topic=3089.msg11253#msg11253 date=1143042586]

eBay Eachnet CEO Wu Shixiong denied rumors that Tom Online (Nasdaq: TOMO) would absorb eBay's assets in China,

[/quote]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this also the same person who said "free is not a business model" in October and then 2 months later adopted free as his business model???  :twistedevil:

[xppman]

Of course they are going to deny IT.

It is the ebay way.

Maybe they should spend another 10 million and start a
whole new shopping site called deny.com

[regic]

6 months later the rumors have resurfaced that Tom Online will take over eBay Eachnet and PayPal China:

HONG Kong-listed Tom.com is going to announce its takeover of eBay's China division and its PayPal service, the 21st Century Business Herald reported today, citing a well-informed source.

Tom Group is the distributor of Skype, eBay's online telephone service in China.

According to the previous agreement between eBay and Eachnet, eBay will sell its shares to the company before withdrawing from the Chinese market...

In another development, the People's Bank of China is drafting a regulation which stipulates that foreign investment faces a limit for its shares in an enterprise operating online payment systems. eBay is the only owner of its C2C Website in China and the Paypal service...

full article: http://www.shanghaidaily.com/art/2006/09...PayPal.htm

related topic:
eBay China: Idiot who coined the term "Free is not a business model" RESIGNS!!!
http://community.tuliptools.com/index.ph...250.0.html

[regic]

More rumors: a rumor that eBay has been in talks to acquire Tencent, and a rumor that Tencent may buy eBay China.  Tencent is China's largest Instant Messaging service with 170 million members and also owns China's 3rd largest auction site www.PaiPai.com

eBay will sell its China division and PayPal service to Tom.com, the Shanghai Daily reported, citing the 21st Century Business Herald. However, Pacific Epoch said eBay is negotiating with Tencent about an acquisition, citing a rumor reported by Sohu. Pacific Epoch also reported another rumor that eBay Eachnet is for sale, and Tencent is an interested buyer.

full article: http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y06/m09/i26/s00

[dimucci]

eBay Japan
eBay Taiwan
eBay China

:popcorneaters:

[mandy]

More press coverage of eBay's possible sale of eBay Eachnet:

Analysts said it was unlikely that eBay would withdraw from the China market, but it was possible that eBay would retain some stake in its China division while seeking a Chinese partner...

"It is possible that eBay will reduce its investment in China because of its poor performance in the past three years over pressure from its shareholders," said Yu Yang, president of Analysys International, a Beijing-based research company.

    "But China is such a big market that no big multinationals can afford to lose, so it's unlikely that it will completely withdraw from China."

full article: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-0...142988.htm

eBay has been facing fierce competition in China from Alibaba's Taobao. With Taobao offering free listings while eBay Eachnet charges a fee, eBay China was losing market share fast. Now, with new Chinese regulation limiting foreign investment in online payment systems, it seems that eBay is quickly trying to improve its position in China.

A commenter in last night's post about China, claims to be close to the situation. He reassured me that my concern with the new CEO of eBay China is unwarranted since he was put there simply to facilitate and "manage the integration/transition of eBay China to its new ownership, which will either be Tencent or Tom.com." If that's true, a numbers guy for the job does make more sense.

Does this mean a withdrawal of eBay from China altogether? I find it hard to believe. As Meg Whitman, eBay's CEO, said before, the Chinese market is the one with the most growth potential. Why would eBay withdraw from that market?...

full article: http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2006/09/26...perations/

In an email interview, Alibaba's Vice President of International Marketing Porter Erisman said he had been hearing for months from sources that eBay has been shopping its China operations around to various local Internet companies. "The real source of Ebay's woes in Asia is its inability to understand local market conditions in this part of the world."...

*AB: Do you have any insight into whether the rumors regarding eBay in China have any basis?*

Erisman: We've been hearing for months from good sources that Ebay has been shopping its China operations around to various local Internet companies.  They seem to be looking for a way to make a dignified withdrawal from China.  We agree with Ebay's assertion that "whoever wins in China, will win the world" and we believe that Ebay's withdrawal from China is inevitable.

*AB: If eBay does make an acquisition or sell Eachnet, is it a reaction to competitive market forces?  What is the competitive landscape?*

Erisman: We doubt Ebay will buy a local company - doing so would only sink them deeper into their China quagmire.  If Ebay sells their China operations to a local company, it would simply be a way to disguise their withdrawal from the market, similar to the way they managed their withdrawal from Taiwan....

full article: http://blog.auctionbytes.com/cgi-bin/blo...91183.html

[maggie777]

I am enjoying watching eBaY suffer.  ;D