Asahi shares mark weekly slide after cyberattack halts production
Investing.com-- Meituan and JD.com shares fell in Hong Kong trade on Thursday after a recent move by rival Alibaba ramped up concerns over a broadening battle in the e-commerce market to carve out a greater market share in China.
Meituan (HK:3690) fell as much as 4% in Hong Kong trade, while JD.com (HK:9618) shed as much as 2%. Alibaba (HK:9988) rose 0.8% after initially falling as much as 2.6%.
The broader Hang Seng index fell 0.3%, lagging most of its Asian peers.
Reports on Wednesday showed Alibaba committing another 1 billion yuan towards incentives in Amap service– China’s most-used Google-like navigation service.
The company introduced new features to the service like artificial intelligence-powered rankings for local businesses, including restaurants, hotels, and tourist attractions. Alibaba was also seen setting aside fresh incentives for consumer subsidies on car rides and dinings.
The move shows Alibaba directly competing with Meituan’s apps in offering restaurant recommendations and booking services, and marks a potential escalation in the companies’ bitter battle to capture more consumers.
JD, Meituan, and Alibaba are locked in a three-way struggle for dominance in China’s rapidly growing fast commerce market.
Intensifying competition saw all three firms ramp up spending on subsidies and promotions in recent quarters, which in turn weighed heavily on their bottom line. All three were seen experiencing margin deterioration when they recently reported their June quarter earnings.