阿裏巴巴與網盛科技'交鋒' 孫德良亮劍'生意寶'

國內兩家電子商務網站巨頭開始“正麵交鋒”。繼阿裏巴巴高調宣布進軍行業網站領域後，A股市場“純網”第一股網盛科技8日宣布：正式推出基於行業網站聯盟的大型商業門戶與搜索平台－－“生意寶”（www.NetSun.com）。業內人士表示，“生意寶”的亮相，是網盛科技董事長孫德良迎戰這場“交鋒”的接招亮劍，一場可能影響整個國內B2B市場格局的顛峰對決已然登場。

據透露，網盛科技已於近日在國內約1000家網站上打出了“中國互聯網第一股，攜手專業網站共贏天下”的大幅廣告，為“生意寶”登場造勢。網盛科技孫德良表示：“生意寶”（www.NetSun.com）是建立在行業網站聯盟基礎上的平台，同各行業網站是平行共贏的合作關係。據悉，目前已有數百個行業網站表示對加盟“生意寶”興趣濃厚。

今年2月6日，網盛科技宣布將在中國專業網站中精選100家合作夥伴，共同打造100個類似“中國化工網”的行業龍頭網站。僅僅一個多月後，阿裏巴巴於3月21日透出消息稱：將在未來幾個月內，與優秀的行業網站展開“全麵深入的合作”。至此，總部同在杭州，原本井水不犯河水的網盛科技與阿裏巴巴兩大電子商務巨頭，終於在行業網站領域交上了手。分析人士指出，此次隨著“生意寶”的登台亮相，表明行業網站巨頭網盛科技與綜合電子商務網站巨頭阿裏巴巴的角逐，終於由“暗戰”走向“交火”，雙方的主戰場正是在行業網站領域。

根據資料，國內行業網站大多是在2000年前後發展起來，但過去由於其專業性強，除了行業內人士外，公眾對此知之甚少。而據最新的數據統計，中國行業商務網站已經超過2000家，2006年總體的服務收入超過了100億元，就業人數超過12萬人。巨大的行業網站商機，已然成為兵家必爭之地。

從雙方公布的信息看，雖然同是尋求與行業網站的全麵合作，網盛科技與阿裏巴巴在理念與方式上迥然不同。“生意寶”（www.NetSun.com）作為行業網站聯盟的電子商務門戶及生意搜索平台，對參與合作的行業網站不設有盈利要求的門檻，而主要看團隊實力；網盛以參股方式與相中的夥伴進行合作，並為其提供技術、內容、品牌推廣等的幫助，目的是將網盛的成功經驗推廣到其它行業網站，達到共贏。而“阿裏巴巴”則主要通過整合商業資訊，讓各合作網站共享其商業流量，進而達成合作。

對於兩種不同的合作模式，網盛科技董事長孫德良表示雙方“各有優勢”，並強調“生意寶”（www.NetSun.com）的基礎是行業網站聯盟，通過優勢互補共同做大市場。

專家分析，僅就目前雙方已披露的信息看，網盛科技顯然更占優勢，其方案的成熟度、可操作性均較高。由於網盛科技本身就是行業網站從小做大的範例，過去10年先後成功打造出中國化工網、中國紡織網、醫藥網等多個國內知名的行業網站，在行業網站領域的經驗、技術與資源等優勢明顯，顯得成竹在胸。比較而言，阿裏巴巴在綜合電子商務領域明顯具有強勢，而在行業網站領域相對是個“新手”，因此其涉足的步伐也有些小心翼翼。
Ninetowns Internet Technology Group Company Limited (NasdaqGM: NINE) provides enterprise software designed to streamline the import/export process in China. Ninetowns’ software allows its customers to complete import/export documentation over the internet. The company first introduced this software in 1995 and it gained a first mover advantage enabling the company to steadily grow revenues and profits until 2005.Ninetowns has a market cap of $140 million, cash of $116 million and no significant long term debt. The trailing P/E is about 24 and the one analyst that follows Ninetowns predicts a loss of $0.02 per share in fiscal year 2007.

In August of 2005 the business outlook for Ninetowns changed dramatically when the State Administration for Quality Supervision and Inspection of the People’s Republic of China (PRC Inspections Administration) decided to create a free e-filing software package to facilitate the import/export process in China. Although the PRC Inspection Administration hired Ninetowns to provide the new software, the PRC Inspection Administration paid Ninetowns a paltry 400K for their services and Ninetowns was forced to offer a scaled down version of their core software product for free.

Since the introduction of the free e-filing software, Ninetowns has struggled financially. Revenues and profits have dropped consistently including in a recently reported loss in the fourth quarter of 2006. Although Ninetowns has been able to increase the number of service contracts and premium services sold, this increase has not offset the revenue lost due to the free software option now available.

With the B2G business at Ninetowns struggling, the company has been looking for other business opportunities. Considering Ninetowns current customer base of over 130,000 businesses involved in import/export transactions in China, a B2B business that leveraged this customer base was the obvious choice. In September of 2006, Ninetowns acquired a 16.25% interest in Global Market Group Limited, a Chinese B2B trade facilitator. Although this was a positive sign, this investment did not show investors that Ninetowns was fully committed to a strategy change to the B2B market place.

In late 2006, Ninetowns launched tootoo.com, its first full featured entry into the B2B marketplace. Although financial results have yet to be reported for tootoo.com, a look at the Alexa ranking shows that tootoo.com is experiencing significant traffic. Tootoo.com has a current Alexa rank of 2,045 compared to a rank of 2,098 for competitor Global Sources, 374 for MadeinChina.com, and 97 for Alibaba.com.

Although a high Alexa rank doesn’t necessarily translate into revenues and profits, the quick jump in traffic at tootoo.com does show that Ninetowns has the ability to leverage their current customer base.

A few weeks ago Ninetowns announced the next step in its B2B strategy. By acquiring Baichuan, a leading Chinese vertical search engine, Ninetowns plans to offer industry specific web search for suppliers and buyers engaged in Chinese international trade. In order to enhance the quality and relevancy of search results, Ninetowns plans to use the supplier verification technology from its existing iDeclare and iProcess service platforms.

The Baichuan acquisition allows Ninetowns to merge tootoo.com with Baichuan’s yaphon.com. Baichuan has entered into alliances with more than 30 Chinese B2B portals with access to 400,000 suppliers and 1.5 million products. Baichuan also introduced the Total Quality Sourcing [TQS] ranking algorithm to improve search result relevancy and quality. By combining TQS and Ninetowns supplier verification system, Ninetowns hopes to gain a competitive advantage over the competition by focusing its search results on companies that have passed multiple quality standards.

Although Ninetowns core software has been hurt significantly by the introduction of the free alternative, the fourth quarter results have finally stopped the downward spiral of revenues. On a year over year basis, the fourth quarter of 2006 had a significant decline compared to fourth quarter 2005 results, but revenues actually increased from the third quarter of 2006. This increase was due in large part to increased sequential sales of iDeclare packages (+300) and iDeclare service contracts (+5,500). The net loss reported for the fourth quarter was largely due to increased spending on R&D for the new B2B platforms (+$779K).

Although there is no guarantee that the new B2B strategy at Ninetowns will be successful, Ninetowns has some unique advantages in this field. By leveraging its current customer base and utilizing the only Chinese developed vertical B2B search platform, Ninetowns can rapidly grow internet traffic while having a better understanding of local business customs than the foreign competition.

On March 22, 2006, SEC from SC 13G was filed for Ninetowns showing that Netease, founder and CEO Lei Ding purchased 3,070,028 shares in Ninetowns representing about 9% of total shares outstanding. This shows that at least one prominent investor, knowledgeable in Chinese on-line businesses, has confidence in Ninetowns.

The core B2G import/export software business at Ninetowns appears to have stabilized and with increased premium services, this business should make a small profit or at least break even going forward, but the real potential in Ninetowns is in B2B. Although revenue projections are impossible at this stage, competitor Global Sources (NasdaqGS: GSOL) has had rapid growth in profits and revenues recently. Although Global Sources relies heavily on sourcing fairs to facilitate transactions, Ninetowns has the potential to succeed without sourcing fairs if its search results can accurately provide quality import/export leads.

At Wall Street Mayhem we think Ninetowns has a compelling valuation at current prices. After backing out the cash, Ninetowns has an enterprise value of only $24 million. Considering the strategic B2B advantages Ninetowns enjoys due to its extensive customer base and its ability to integrate quality measures into B2B search results, Ninetowns has the potential to make a significant impact on the B2B market place in China.