Is Alibaba capable of regaining its former glory?
Once a symbol of Chinese e-commerce success, Alibaba has recently faced a series of challenges. In 2021, it became the target of a government crackdown on China’s tech giants, resulting in a record $2.8bn fine for monopolistic practices. Jack Ma, the co-founder, also stepped back from the spotlight. Competitors like PDD and ByteDance have outshone Alibaba in catering to cost-conscious consumers and embracing new trends like “social commerce”.
By late 2022, Alibaba’s market value had plummeted to below $170bn from over $800bn just two years prior. To combat this decline, the company underwent a restructuring, dividing into six separate entities. These included a logistics business, a cloud-computing division, an international e-commerce segment, a digital-services company, and a media group. Alibaba retained its core domestic retail business, centered around Taobao and Tmall, which generate the majority of the group’s revenue.
2024-05-09 08:42:03
Source: www.economist.com