Taipei, Taiwan and San Jose, Calif., June 5, 2006 – eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY) and PChome Online (TWO: 8044) announced today that they have agreed to form a joint venture in Taiwan. Under the agreement, the companies will leverage eBay's global experience and PChome Online's local ecommerce expertise to launch a new co-branded website that will bring new online trading opportunities to buyers and sellers in Taiwan.
Focused on the needs of Taiwan consumers, the new website will specialize in online auction-style trading and will also offer the ability to buy and sell at a fixed price. eBay and PChome Online will share best practices to develop a new shopping experience that offers enhanced features to the Taiwan Internet community. The new website will be managed locally by PChome Online and will replace both PChome Online's existing auction channel and the eBay Taiwan site.
"This partnership is a remarkable milestone for PChome Online," said Hung Tze Jan, chairman of PChome Online. "eBay is one of the world's most recognized ecommerce brands and PChome Online is an Internet pioneer with great successes in Taiwan ecommerce. Together, we can create a new online trading site that caters to the needs of Taiwan's Internet users."
"We're excited about teaming up with PChome Online," said Matt Bannick, president of eBay International. "PChome Online is the right partner to help us transform online shopping in Taiwan. We look forward to working together for the benefit of our local communities of users."
Launched in 1998, PChome Online is the number two Internet portal and the leading ecommerce website in Taiwan. A pioneer of Taiwan ecommerce with more than 10 million members, PChome Online offers a full range of shopping services, including a traditional retail channel, a business-to-consumer shopping channel, and a consumer-to-consumer auction-style site. PChome Online's shopping sites feature an array of products including women's clothing and accessories, consumer electronics, software and books. In addition, PChome Online is the local partner of Skype, eBay's online voice communications business.
eBay does not expect the joint venture to have a material impact on 2006 net revenues and earnings per share, and does not expect it to affect eBay's financial guidance as issued in connection with its first quarter earnings release on April 19, 2006.
The joint venture agreement is subject to various closing conditions and is expected to be finalized by the end of the year.
No further terms of the agreement were disclosed.
About PChome Online
PChome Online was established in 1998 and has grown to be a benchmark Internet service provider in Taiwan with more than 10 million members. PChome Online offers a comprehensive suite of services including an Internet portal, ecommerce platform and telecommunications offering. According to a survey published by Market Intelligence Center (MIC) in January 2006, PChome has a 23 percent share of the online shopping market, making it the number one ecommerce platform in Taiwan. PChome Online and Skype formed a partnership in 2004 to launch a co-branded service in Taiwan. PChome Online became the first publicly-listed Internet company in Taiwan when it went public in January 2005.
About eBay
Founded in 1995, eBay created a powerful platform for the sale of goods and services by a passionate community of individuals and businesses. On any given day, there are millions of items across thousands of categories for sale on eBay. eBay enables trade on a local, national and international basis with customized sites in markets around the world.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements regarding eBay and the expected impact of the announced joint venture with PChome Online on eBay's financial results. Those statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially from those discussed. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, the reaction of users of each company's to the joint venture, the reaction of each company's competitors to the joint venture, and the possibility that the expected benefits of the joint venture may not materialize to the extent expected or at all. All information set forth in this release is as of June 4, 2006, and eBay undertakes no duty to update this information. More information about potential factors that could impact eBay's business and financial results is included under the captions, "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," in eBay's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2005 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2006, which are on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and available at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.