By JONAH GREENBERG
(Virtual China News, May 12) BroadVision (ticker: BVSN), one of the leading providers of online business solutions to Fortune 500 companies, has recently begun a major push into the mainland China market, including the appointment of new senior management executives and the opening of a new office in Beijing.
The company, which already has offices in most East Asian capitals including in Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong, has waited until now to aggressively push into the region's potentially largest market.
"China will certainly be the major focus for the development of e-business in Asia," said BroadVision's founder and chief executive officer, Pehong Chen. China's growing commercial sector, as well as an increase in average levels of disposable income, will both spur e-commerce in China, Chen said in a company statement.
Strategic Alliance
BroadVision's clients in China already include the State Statistics Bureau, China Info Highway, Egochina.com, Mobile One, China Information Highway Corporation, and Shanghai Bank. The company creates content and knowledge management, and transaction processing applications for global companies, including Citibank, Hewlett Packard, and Philips Electronics. It then runs all proprietary applications on its own servers and data centers in an independent location.
Interwoven Inc. (ticker: IWOV), and Vignette Corp. (ticker: VIGN) both offer similar products, however, neither of these companies match BroadVision's strong ties to Greater China businesses. Computer Associates (ticker: CA), based in Islandia, N.Y., offers online business management programs, and has also expanded into the mainland China market, with an application service provider (ASP) joint venture in Shanghai.
BroadVision also announced this week a strategic alliance with China Information Highway Corporation (CIH), which was one of the earliest Internet service providers to be established in the country. The two companies will join forces to offer application solutions, consulting services, and systems integration services to businesses with a heavy Internet focus.
Unfazed
The company's expansion into China will certainly not come without regulatory complications. When Chen joined a panel discussion of the future of the Internet in Asia hosted by the Committee of 100 in Los Angeles last weekend, he pointed out that any foreign technology company faces regulatory issues in China, but especially when information flow over the Internet is involved.
"China is a very big country, and influence from outside in a non-managed way would be perceived as a bad thing," Chen said.
Still, Chen is unfazed by recent indications Beijing will come down heavy on Web content. Instead, he thinks the development of a technologically sophisticated industry is a more crucial factor. Technological advancement and higher income in China, he said, "ultimately would render all of those concerns irrelevant."
BroadVision's stock was not unscathed in the recent correction that took place on the NASDAQ exchange; its shares fell from a high of 93 1/4 in early March to the low 40's four weeks later. However, unlike many Internet-focused companies, BroadVision has been profitable from the beginning. Shares closed yesterday at 43 5/16.
