Top > Webmaster > 2006 > June > 2006-06-08

Yahoo Buys Share of Asian Online Retailer

American Internet firm Yahoo increased its hold over the Asian online market by buying a 10 percent stake in Gmarket, South Korea`s second largest online retailer. Yahoo`s recent acquisition makes Yahoo`s battle against eBay to a new level. The Gmarket deal is Yahoo`s biggest investment in online retail firms in Asia. The South Korean market is an $11 billion market who was dominated by eBay for a long time.

"Gmarket is fast catching up with eBay, and it seems to be on track to rise to the top position as early as this year," said Lee Sang-koo, an analyst at Hyundai Securities. "EBay may see competition from a growing number of rivals hurt its market share, while Gmarket will be able to take advantage of Yahoo`s media platform as well as advance its efforts to expand overseas."

Yahoo has an advertising and e-commerce alliance with eBay to fight off their common rival Google, but the Asian market hold great promise for future revenues and Yahoo doesn`t hesitate to take on its US partner on Asian grounds. "We look forward to working with Gmarket to leverage their e-commerce expertise to further expand Yahoo`s leading position in commerce in Asia," Yahoo chief operating officer Dan Rosensweig said in a statement.