Alibaba's Jack MA on the way to seek Parnters in US Market

Jack Ma has decided to move into the USA e-commerce market by launching an auction and online payment websites in USA. Group executives will make decision after visiting Silicon Valley and found an opportunity in meetings with prospective partners including Google, Yahoo, eBay and Microsoft.

Jack Ma discussed possibilities of partnerships with 10 senior managers of Silicon Valley in his recent two-weeks long trip to USA. The discussions include the possibility of bringing Alibaba's Alipay online payment system and Taobao auction site to the U.S., an Alibaba spokeswoman said Tuesday. Further she added that Alibaba has considered bringing its sites to the United States and Europe for two years.

Taobao to face challenge in USA

A Taobao venture in the United States would compete with eBay and face challenges the U.S. company itself succumbed to after setting up its own site in China.
By taking business steps like eliminating user fees and offering mor localized feel to its users, Taobao has already defeated eBay in China. According to iResearch analyst, Zhang Yanping, Taobao holds over 80 percent of China's consumer-to-consumer e-commerce market similar to the position eBay holds in United States.

"If Taobao wants to enter America, then it first faces a company that is similar to a monopoly," Zhang said.

"Taobao's brand and quality may be very well known in China, but if it wants to develop abroad then it would have to build these things from the beginning," she said.

Transaction volume on Taobao is almost doubled with registered users rose upto 98 million in 2008. Makeup and mobile phones were some of the most popular items that were traded on Taobao.

Payment service Alipay, launched one year after Taobao in 2004, now has 100 million users in a country where credit cards are rare and many online shoppers pay using cash-on-delivery.

Entering into American market can be a tough challenge for Alibaba as it is an old company now and almost every competitor has invested a lot of time in predicting the moves of Jack Ma. Only the time can tell how much Jack Ma has studied other markets.