Alibaba Moves Into Cloud Computing Business, Challenging Huge US Tech Firms
March 4, 2015
Grazed from 24/7WallSt. Author: Douglas A. McIntyre.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NASDAQ: BABA) will start to offer cloud-based services in the United States. These services are the cornerstone of the recovery of International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) and critical to future sales at America’s largest tech companies, which include Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN). Alibaba has unusual resources. It is the largest e-commerce company in China, and it is bristling with cash from its recent initial public offering.
Recently, IBM announced its plans to increase falling sales. Cloud computing sits at the core of those plans. Amazon Web Services may pass the company’s e-commerce operation in revenue, according to founder Jeff Bezos. That means its cloud sales would approach $100 billion. Microsoft’s plans are just as aggressive. As it released quarterly earnings last month, the importance of the cloud was front and center:…