4 ms·

> Jack told me: “I started looking at the market and realized that, pretty soon, eBay was going to try to get aggressive with its business in China. They’d star

by dqpb 8y ago

> Jack told me: “I started looking at the market and realized that, pretty soon, eBay was going to try to get aggressive with its business in China. They’d start with consumers, but over time they will start coming after Alibaba’s wholesalers. Competition was inevitable. So I decided the only way we can slow them down is to launch a site to compete directly with their Chinese language site." That, plus the fact that China will just pull the plug on any American business gaining too much traction.

slyssassa 8y ago
Exactly. Sooner or later alibaba is just gonna be another Chinese governments pawn anyways. The government already took over Wanda and hna effortlessly.
- justaman 8y ago
  I can't imagine a better way to ensure the business suffers in the long term. (coming from an American who see's how poorly run government institutions are)
  - metalliqaz 8y ago
    Yes but it some respects you're comparing apples to oranges. The US political system is perpetually focused on the short term because of the ~4 year election cycle. China has a president for life and single-party rule. They are able to make and execute long term plans, which is why they are currently succeeding at reshaping the global trade landscape. (all roads lead to China, and all that) It's not just that the government takes over management of the companies, they also manage the population. Where in the US consumers may choose to avoid an entity being mismanaged by the government, in China they may not exactly have that option.
    - influx 8y ago
      So if China is long term going to be the end all be all, why are the Chinese elite doing everything in their power to get their cash and kids out of the country?
      - emodendroket 8y ago
        If the United States' economy is so good, why are the its elites doing everything they can to shovel their money to the Cayman Islands? It's the same thing really.
  - emodendroket 8y ago
    Looking at the runaway success of China on the world stage I'd say one probably needs to marshal arguments other than "the businesses will fail because of government involvement."
nehene 8y ago
> That, plus the fact that China will just pull the plug on any American business gaining too much traction. So did they? We all know why Google and Facebook isn't in China, but as far as I can tell I don't find similar conflicts regarding companies like Amazon and eBay. The consensus online seems to be that they have been failing in the Chinese market by their own hand. Which does sound pretty plausible considering they aren't even that good in Europe.
- onetimemanytime 8y ago
  Google didn't have any problems with China...until it did. No court to sue either, unless you want to waste your time and money.
  - nehene 8y ago
    I am not sure which part of my comment you are addressing. As far as I know the official story from Google was that gmail users were being targeted by the Chinese government. Google deliberately stopped complying with Chinese law by no longer censoring search result and therefor became blocked. Yahoo and Microsoft didn't and are still in China.
- qiqing 8y ago
  Starbucks is doing very well in China (as well as KFC, Pizza Hut, and McDonalds, and their compatriots), and also Apple, Nike, Tesla, Coach, Carrefour, Tesco, and more. (Latter 2 are from Europe.) Prior to the rise of Taobao, most of my family members didn't really use eBay in China. Most of them prefer using mobile (like the bulk of consumers in China), but if you prioritize the browser experience and 'consistency across the global platform' over what your local users want, well, shrug, let's pretend there's nothing to learn here from a UX perspective... In contrast, Starbucks has a different user experience when you walk into one in Shanghai or Hangzhou. You place your order and pay for it via phone and pick it up at the register and you don't have to stand in a line. I wish they'd replicate that in the US.
  - nehene 8y ago
DownVoteFuckers 8y ago
Sore losers always blame the system. Haters are going to hate. As a matter of fact, many American companies are doing very well in China. For instance, Apple, Intel, AMD, Nvidia, IBM, Ford, GM, Starbucks generate a large portion of its profits from China. They are doing very well. Ebay lost because its product and execution. Chinese internet companies are very competitive. They are relentless.

by dqpb 8y ago

slyssassa 8y ago

Exactly. Sooner or later alibaba is just gonna be another Chinese governments pawn anyways. The government already took over Wanda and hna effortlessly.

justaman 8y ago
I can't imagine a better way to ensure the business suffers in the long term. (coming from an American who see's how poorly run government institutions are)
- metalliqaz 8y ago
  Yes but it some respects you're comparing apples to oranges. The US political system is perpetually focused on the short term because of the ~4 year election cycle. China has a president for life and single-party rule. They are able to make and execute long term plans, which is why they are currently succeeding at reshaping the global trade landscape. (all roads lead to China, and all that) It's not just that the government takes over management of the companies, they also manage the population. Where in the US consumers may choose to avoid an entity being mismanaged by the government, in China they may not exactly have that option.
  - influx 8y ago
    So if China is long term going to be the end all be all, why are the Chinese elite doing everything in their power to get their cash and kids out of the country?
    - emodendroket 8y ago
      If the United States' economy is so good, why are the its elites doing everything they can to shovel their money to the Cayman Islands? It's the same thing really.
- emodendroket 8y ago
  Looking at the runaway success of China on the world stage I'd say one probably needs to marshal arguments other than "the businesses will fail because of government involvement."

nehene 8y ago

> That, plus the fact that China will just pull the plug on any American business gaining too much traction. So did they? We all know why Google and Facebook isn't in China, but as far as I can tell I don't find similar conflicts regarding companies like Amazon and eBay. The consensus online seems to be that they have been failing in the Chinese market by their own hand. Which does sound pretty plausible considering they aren't even that good in Europe.

onetimemanytime 8y ago
Google didn't have any problems with China...until it did. No court to sue either, unless you want to waste your time and money.
- nehene 8y ago
  I am not sure which part of my comment you are addressing. As far as I know the official story from Google was that gmail users were being targeted by the Chinese government. Google deliberately stopped complying with Chinese law by no longer censoring search result and therefor became blocked. Yahoo and Microsoft didn't and are still in China.
qiqing 8y ago
Starbucks is doing very well in China (as well as KFC, Pizza Hut, and McDonalds, and their compatriots), and also Apple, Nike, Tesla, Coach, Carrefour, Tesco, and more. (Latter 2 are from Europe.) Prior to the rise of Taobao, most of my family members didn't really use eBay in China. Most of them prefer using mobile (like the bulk of consumers in China), but if you prioritize the browser experience and 'consistency across the global platform' over what your local users want, well, shrug, let's pretend there's nothing to learn here from a UX perspective... In contrast, Starbucks has a different user experience when you walk into one in Shanghai or Hangzhou. You place your order and pay for it via phone and pick it up at the register and you don't have to stand in a line. I wish they'd replicate that in the US.
- nehene 8y ago

DownVoteFuckers 8y ago

Sore losers always blame the system. Haters are going to hate. As a matter of fact, many American companies are doing very well in China. For instance, Apple, Intel, AMD, Nvidia, IBM, Ford, GM, Starbucks generate a large portion of its profits from China. They are doing very well. Ebay lost because its product and execution. Chinese internet companies are very competitive. They are relentless.