| Although Alibaba is a huge company that does a ton of different things, I feel like this article went out of the way to avoid mentioning that companies like Google and Amazon (as well as Microsoft and Apple to a lesser extent) come close to checking all of these boxes. The other thing to point out is that Alibaba owns stakes in many of these companies and doesn't really own them outright. As others have already pointed out how Google compares, take Amazon for instance: Online Payments - Amazon Payments Cloud Services - Amazon Web Services Mobile Apps - Amazon AppStore Mobile OS - Amazon FireOS Maps and Navigation - Amazon Maps API Retail Outlets - N/A Group Buying - Amazon Local Cloud Storage - Amazon CloudDrive / Amazon S3 Mobile Messaging - N/A Car Service, Ride Sharing - N/A C2C e-commerice - Amazon Services/Amazon WebStore (not quite the same, but close) Online Travel Booking - N/A B2C e-commerce - Amazon.com E-Learning - http://www.tenmarks.com/ (owned by Amazon) Microblogging - N/A Music Streaming - Amazon Cloud Player Streaming Video - Amazon Prime Instant Streaming Money-market funds - N/A 12/18 isn't bad. |
* Self-service warehousing and distribution (Fulfillment by Amazon)
* Package Delivery (Google Shopping Express, AmazonFresh) TV setup box (Amazon FireTV)
* Search Engine (Google Search) Web Browser (Chrome)
* Laptop/Desktop OS (Chrome OS)
* Wearable Tech (Android Wear, Google Glass) etc.
Also for many offerings like Aliyun and Aliyun OS pale in comparison in the features offered by AWS or Android.
I went to an Alibaba presentation in the US awhile ago. They want to pursue the same strategy as Google and focus deep on big data and Machine Learning rather than building out huge logistic infrastructure like Amazon. This is probably a good idea since the margins are better.