Alibaba quarterly revenue up 32%

BEIJING - Alibaba’s 3Q report has surprised and impressed many industry watchers as it includes a stronger-than-expected 32% rise in quarterly revenue. Revenue from mobile platforms, an increasingly important area for the company, nearly tripled to US$1.66 billion, with mobile gross merchandise volume (GMV) accounting for 62% of total GMV transacted on Alibaba’s China retail marketplaces.

Analyst Tian Hou said: “Mobile is the trend and Alibaba is capturing that trend.” This increase in revenue has reinforced founder Jack Ma’s statements on how concerns about slowing consumption in China have been “overdone”.

Facing increasing competition from rival JD.com, Alibaba has pursued a strategy of branching out from its core online shopping platforms in a bid to stem  slower growth in revenue.

Last quarter, the company invested US$4.6 billion in Suning Commerce Group Co to strengthen its acumen in logistics and electronics, two areas where JD.com has historically shown more strength. www.webershandwick.cn (ATI).