RBCT Chapter 1394 A two-pronged approach (4k)
Chapter 1394 A two-pronged approach (4k)
Chapter 1394 A two-pronged approach (4k)
Alibaba was successfully listed on the New York Stock Exchange, with its share price soaring to US$94.15 on the first day. In the evening, it announced that its underwriters had exercised the over-allotment option.
This means that Alibaba raised a total of approximately US$251 billion in this IPO, setting a new record for global IPO financing. Before it, this record was also held by Hua Xia Enterprise, created by Agricultural Bank of China in 10, with a total financing amount of US$221 billion.
At the same time, on the first day of listing alone, Alibaba’s market value exceeded US$2000 billion, making it a global giant on par with Microsoft, Google, Yike, Apple, Oracle, Intel and other companies.
Unlike these technology companies with a global layout, Alibaba's business is more focused on the Chinese market. Its uniqueness and rapid growth are dazzling.
Alibaba has been attracting a large number of investors and journalists since the beginning of its roadshow. More than 800 investors attended the first roadshow in New York. After the successful conclusion of the first day of listing, many well-known media were waiting for Alibaba's "acceptance speech".
The leader Ma Dian was quite proud when facing interviews from various media.
He has given speeches of all sizes in recent days, but today's speech, which took advantage of the excellent stock price on the first day, attracted special applause.
However, since it is listed in the United States and since it comes from China, Alibaba is inevitably compared with Yike. This has been happening from time to time since the beginning of the roadshow. However, Ma Dian rarely answered such questions before, or he just smiled and euphemistically passed them by.
Now that Alibaba is at the $2000 billion mark, it seems like it’s time to talk.
"You asked me how Alibaba compares to Yike? Let me put it this way, Yike is a very strong company, and it has a very strong offensive in the Chinese market."
"From the perspective of overall competition, Alibaba is a company that can compete with Yike, but in the core e-commerce business, Yike or the Yike system has always been at a disadvantage."
"It's not easy. After all, Yike is one of the most valuable companies on the planet."
Ma Dian gave a description of the competition as "give and take" and "core suppression", which did not seem to be a low profile. Now, from the perspective of market value alone, the only ones ahead of Yike are Google and Microsoft.
So, as he said, competing with Yike is not an easy task.
However, such an attitude was not Ma Dian's style. He changed the subject and said with a smile: "To compete with Yi Ke, you have to do one thing right, that is to gain a leading advantage and constantly consolidate it."
"As you can see, Ali did it! And he did it well!"
"I feel like Ali is incredibly strong right now!"
"But, what's even better is that Ali will be even stronger!"
"We are confident that we can win against any competitor, whether in China or around the world, whether it is Amazon or Yike!"
“Alibaba is the world’s best internet company at selling goods!”
“In the future, we will expand our business globally and globalize our e-commerce infrastructure to help small companies around the world sell their products to every corner of the world and help consumers around the world buy products from all over the world smoothly!”
Ma Dian's confidence and aura won warm applause, and it seemed that this was not an interview but just another small speech.
However, compared to the recent troubles encountered by Yike, Alibaba directly crossed the 2000 billion US dollar threshold on the first day. Its momentum is indeed unmatched by the other two domestic giants.
In fact, as Yike’s market value continues to rise and Duji’s market share is increasingly eroded, the names of the four giants have gradually been forgotten.
The two companies are nearly 20 times different, how can they be compared?
The one that replaced it was Yiguo, which is part of the Yike Group.
YBAT → YATY.
Now, due to Alibaba's booming performance after its IPO, the term "four giants" seems to be outdated. The China Securities News adopted an evaluation that appeared on the Internet.
"Ali's $2000 billion is obviously not the end, it is just the beginning for Ali."
"In the past ten or twenty years, from the Internet to mobile Internet, from core business to multi-faceted expansion, from the Internet's three musketeers to the four giants, from the old four to the new four, now it has become a bipolar pattern."
“Below these two poles, Alibaba and Yike, are the other giants ranked by seniority.”
"This is probably good news for Duji. It is still a giant, but there is also a lingering shadow hanging over the giant."
"Leaving aside the issue of Duji, which of these big companies would they rather face, Alibaba's A or Yike's Y?"
"Well, Du Ji definitely doesn't want to face Y."
It’s too late to miss YATY, now on stage is the bipolar YA!
Because of the affirmation of China Securities News, this polarized view was quickly reprinted in the context of Alibaba's success, and it seemed that this title was finalized.
In the last three days of January, Alibaba continued its upward trend, with its market value reaching US$2258 billion as February approached.
As a celebration, and also because Alibaba's IPO raised a large amount of funds, both Taobao and Tmall launched massive pre-New Year discount promotions, which put great pressure on Yiguo to maintain its usual practices.
In the past few years, Alibaba and Yigoo have maintained the habit of focusing on their respective home turfs in the first and second half of the year, trying to encroach on the market without launching a large-scale attack, and pre-year promotions are basically the third most powerful activity of the whole year.
Although Yigoo has already made some preparations for its rival’s listing, Alibaba’s promotion this time is almost as powerful as its 618 event.
Su Wei couldn't help feeling annoyed when faced with this situation.
After finishing her work on the first day of February, she broke into the president's office of Yike 23 and strongly requested President Fang Da to adopt the suggestion of Yike's executive vice president and send a congratulatory message to Alibaba for its successful listing.
"You guys are still discussing bad ideas together, right? It's not nice to give a gift of words." Fang Zhuo didn't have any emotions because of the promotion friction caused by Alibaba.
"No, Yiguo is under a lot of pressure. You have to come out to help me share the burden. People come here for Yiguo in the Yike Department, not just for Yiguo." Su Wei asked for help.
"How about this, you just tell the media that I have found a way to compete with Alibaba. This way you can at least slightly dampen the momentum of Alibaba's stock price." Fang Zhuo said with a smile.
Su Wei didn't take it as a joke and actually thought about the feasibility seriously.
Judging from the reputation of the man in front of him, if he had not relayed the words himself but had come out to say this to the media, it would probably immediately cool down the atmosphere of Alibaba, which had just gone public.
Su Wei was well aware of Fang Zhuo's influence.
But... this will not ease the pressure on Yigoo. On the contrary, if Alibaba really studies and thinks about it seriously, will it increase the importance of the short video track by several levels?
Su Wei knew the future plans of TikTok. She thought about it carefully and really didn’t want a chain reaction to occur because of a momentary rush.
Fang Zhuo looked at the thoughtful teacher Xiao Su, as if he knew what she was thinking, and smiled: "Don't worry, Alibaba can't compete with us in the short video track."
With the popularity of TikTok, several similar applications have appeared on the market, and Penguin, Duji and Alibaba have all entered the market. This reaction speed is quite fast.
If Yi Ke had not paid attention to it, perhaps they would have continued to watch and wait, but as soon as Yi Ke pushed it hard, they followed without hesitation.
Among them, the most challenging is still Penguin's social traffic.
As for Duji and Alibaba, the former's traffic is dispersed, and its main focus is on guarding core search, so it will not pose too much of a threat. As for the latter...
Alibaba’s social networking efforts always lack something. It seems to be serious about it, but it seems to be perfunctory. This short video is no exception.
As for the start-up projects other than these three, there is even less need for concern, as it is difficult for them to match the competition in terms of funding and resources.
Back to the Penguin, although it is the most challenging, Yi Ke is not afraid of it even in its heyday, let alone the current version.
Based on all these factors, Su Wei is very optimistic about Douyin's ultimate victory, but she is still watching and thinking about the e-commerce impact of this model.
But no matter what, she doesn't want to attract more attention from competitors for TikTok, which is only a month old.
Su Wei sighed, "Forget it, forget it, I won't pass on the message. However, with good fortune and misfortune come misfortunes, and with misfortunes come good fortune and misfortune. Alibaba has received a lot of funds from its IPO this time, and it has been promoting sales before the New Year. Ma Dian is also in high spirits in New York. I'm afraid they are really going to thoroughly implement consumption upgrades."
Alibaba has already created its B2C Tmall, and both Tmall and Taobao are particularly coveting the mid- to high-end users that Yigoo has cultivated over the years.
Regarding "consumption upgrade", Alibaba has had similar statements within the past two years, but the execution has always been weak.
Now, Alibaba has gone public and has ascended to the most dazzling position. Ma Dian is trying to expand into the global market, and Tmall is confidently sharpening its knives...
It is possible that this will be a real competition for mid- to high-end customers.
In February, there are big pre-year sales, in March it’s small appliances, and then it’s not far from the traditional big sales in June. This consecutive period is a sweet period for Alibaba to hold activities.
"Hey, that's good. Ali is rich, and he thinks the guys are rich too. Well, this is a two-pronged approach." Fang Zhuo couldn't help but laugh, "We must see the effect."
Alibaba has already shown a tendency to attach more importance to Tmall than Taobao. If it clearly proposes a competitive strategy similar to consumption upgrading, Taobao merchants will have the greatest weapon to undermine the foundation of their old employer.
Fang Zhuo took a sip of water and thought for a while about Alibaba's recent executive deployment. The two things confirmed that there were indeed such signs.
"Ali is doing consumption upgrading, and we are doing consumption downgrading. Yiguo will just hold back. Do you think we should start directly on Yiguo or set up another subsidiary?" Su Wei asked.
"You can discuss it in the general office. I think it's all right. You can also call Sun Tongyu from Mi Tuan. He is the best at this. Yeah, yes, you can call him to give you advice." Fang Zhuo mentioned Sun Tongyu, the former president of Taobao. He also performed well in Mi Tuan, and he was kicked out because of differences in development.
Although times have changed, we can still discuss the pros and cons.
Fang Zhuo thought about this, and his calm mood suddenly became a little excited. He smiled and said, "How did I answer you just now? Did I say it was a subsidiary? Why don't you invite Sun Tongyu to the subsidiary to take charge of the work? I want to see such a duel."
Su Wei spread her hands and looked at the fickle man in front of her.
No, he is not fickle. His desire to stir up trouble has never changed. It’s just that he has been focusing on Yi Ke’s changes recently.
"Let's discuss it further, and we have to wait and see what Ali will do." Su Wei remained calm.
Fang Zhuo nodded with a smile. We really need to see how excited Alibaba is after receiving such a large amount of funding.
He personally made a cup of coffee for Teacher Su, then chatted with her about the competition with emerging global giants, and finally saw her off.
However, since they had talked about these things, Fang Zhuo really called Sun Tongyu directly and talked about his old club which is now thriving.
"Well, it's good that big companies have an operating mechanism. It doesn't matter who is gone. Everything can still function without anyone." Fang Zhuo sighed after chatting for a while.
Because Alibaba went public, Yike was the company that was used for comparison, but given the scale of Yike's market value, no one dared to underestimate it, not even Ma Dian.
However, also because of Alibaba's listing, Sun Tongyu, who was once a very high-ranking "God of Wealth", also became a little famous. The reason was that the media, which wanted to dig up everything, ridiculed his choice.
MiTuan can also be considered as a YiKe company, but the two are more about investment, cooperation, and complementarity, and the former has been looking for more profit models.
It would have been fine if Sun Tongyu had really joined Yike, but after leaving Alibaba, he became a rival of Alibaba in the group buying market.
——"If Sun Tongyu had not left Alibaba, he would have been one of the bell ringers for the IPO. Even if he is now curbing Alibaba's offensive in the niche market, it will not be beneficial to the overall situation. Alibaba, which has received more funds, will inevitably make greater efforts in the group buying market."
Sun Tongyu's mood these days has not been very good. When he heard what Mr. Fang said, he said helplessly: "Mr. Fang, who are you going to order?"
"I'm just feeling emotional and waiting to see if anyone can surprise Alibaba in the e-commerce field," Fang Zhuo said with a smile.
Sun Tongyu frowned and said nothing. After a moment, he asked, "Mr. Fang, if you have anything to say that is inconvenient over the phone, I will come to visit you right away. If anyone wants to give Ali a surprise, I, Sun Tongyu, will definitely help out as soon as possible."
"Mr. Sun hasn't let it go after all these years." Fang Zhuo sighed.
"Mr. Fang, do you mean I need to let it go?" Sun Tongyu asked, and before the other end of the line answered, he continued, "Or, if I can't let it go, Mr. Fang will hand me a sharper knife?"
Mituan is already a sharp knife, suppressing Alibaba's development in the group buying market.
But isn't there a sharper knife, the kind that can make a hole with just one poke?
Fang Zhuo said simply: "Come at nine o'clock the day after tomorrow morning."
Sun Tongyu was cheered up. Well, Mr. Fang was indeed the kind of person who wanted to put the knife in his hand.
In fact, the knife may have been sharpened to a shiny finish.
(End of this chapter)