Perhaps this HK based WSJ writer would like to look into ZSUN?: "Hong Kong Start-Up Tom.com
Cuts 80 Jobs in Efficiency Effort
By CONNIE LING
WSJ.COM
HONG KONG -- Tom.com Ltd., one of the Asia's most high-profile
dot-coms, on Friday laid off 80 people, or 16% of its total staff, as part of
its plan to refocus the business and make it more competitive in a chilly
environment for Internet companies world-wide.
The portal, backed by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, will be putting
more emphasis and resources on the China market, which offers lower
operating costs but high growth potential, said Sing Wang, Tom.com's
chief executive officer. "We as a company must allocate resources
according to where we think the biggest market is, and what is the most
competitive way of doing business," he said in a hastily organized press
conference.
Refuting that the layoff is a sign of the Internet bubble bursting in Asia, Mr.
Wang, who was appointed to the post less than two weeks ago, said the
move is simply a business decision by a company reviewing its strategies
and cost structure. "Tom.com is just another company and all the basic
principles of a good business practice apply," he said. And one
fundamental rule of running a good business, he said, is cutting costs and
generating revenue, which is exactly what Tom.com has done by
streamlining the operation.
The 80 laid off employees came mostly from its content and technology
divisions, according to the company. After the layoff, the portal now has
50% of its staff based in China, with the other half based in Hong Kong.
Tom.com generated much fanfare among retail investors when it went
public in Hong Kong earlier this year. Tens of thousands of people lined up
for hours to get a piece of the IPO, despite the fact that Tom.com's site
wasn't even up and running at that time. It raised US$112 million from the
IPO, a record for Hong Kong's Growth Enterprise Market, a second
board designed for start-ups.
Further shakeouts in Asia's dot-com scene could lie ahead. While the
region hasn't seen any high-profile dot-com failures such as Boo.com
Group Ltd. or Toysmart.com Inc., several large corporations have
downsized their Internet operations in the past two months, including Hong
Kong's South China Morning Post (Holdings) Ltd. and Next Media Ltd.
Several other dot-coms across Asia also have shelved their IPO plans in
the past few months.
The news was announced after the close of trading Friday. In trading on
the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, shares of Tom.com slipped 15 Hong
Kong cents to HK$5.75.
Write to Connie Ling at connie.ling@awsj.com |
