One of the reasons I've been loading up on the Alibaba Pink is because of this---with or without Yahoo---these guys have made a captive move with both hardware and their embedded software....none of their 700,000+ and growing customers who buy this package will find it very hard to change---I suspect most won't in any event.
Alibaba to Launch E-business Computer
Wednesday 05/14/2008 4:49 AM ET - Sinocast China It Watch
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As of 4:00 PM ET 5/14/08
China's leading B2B e-commerce company Alibaba.com Ltd. (SEHK: 1688) announced on May 12, 2008 that it planned to develop e-business personal computers (PC) catering for small and medium-sized corporate users, in cooperation with semiconductor chip maker Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC).
The to-be-launched products will apply Intel's advanced platform technologies in a bid to meet users' demand for information safety and services. In addition, the PCs will be embedded with Alibaba SME e-commerce platform, the company's latest strategic product.
The partners will select proper PC makers being responsible for the production as well as the distribution of the products, according to the Hong Kong-listed company.
The pair of partners are designing the chip for the computer and will select a PC manufacturer to produce the products as soon as possible, said Yang Xu, vice president of Intel and general manager of Intel Greater China.
The AlibabaInside computers are likely to hit shelves in 2008, according to sources.
Most SMEs attach great importance to profit-making, according to Mr. Yang. And price of the to-be-launched products will stand not higher than that of the common products in the market. For instance, if the common PCs are priced at CNY 3,999, the AlibabaInside products will be sold not higher than that price level, added Mr. Yang.
Both of the partners declined to unveil whether the PCs will be under the Alibaba trademark.
Small and medium-sized e-commerce companies are expected to profit from the rollout of e-business featured PCs, especially in their starting period, said Wei Zhe, chief executive officer for the Hong Kong-listed company, adding that the company is optimistic about the nation's SME e-business PC market.
Presently, domestic e-business PC providers usually target big customers purchasing more than 100 sets of products. However, the about 40 million e-business SMEs, with around CNY 1 million registered capital each, need less than 10, thus, they can only afford the consumer PCs which are not able to satisfy SMEs' need in terms of information safety and software.
Market analysts point out that the move is part of Alibaba's efforts to expand its services. The B2B e-commerce service provider teamed up with Infomedia India in April 2008.
The Hong Kong-listed company will work together with its Indian partner to provide Indian SMEs with a one-stop solution for global and domestic trade. |
