Alibaba’s Ma Says Open to Working with Apple on Payments

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Alibaba executive chairman Jack Ma said he’s open to working with Apple on mobile payments, as China’s richest person prepares to call on Hollywood this week in search of media partners.

Alibaba affiliate Alipay is China’s largest payments service, while Apple just this month debuted its own version of a mobile wallet, letting iPhone 6 users make payments at retailers with their smartphones.

Ma told a Wall Street Journal Digital Live conference on Monday that he has tremendous respect for Apple CEO Tim Cook.

“I hope we can do something together,” he said when asked if Alipay and Apple Pay might tie up.

Ma, who amassed a fortune estimated at $25 billion partly through his stake in recent market debutante Alibaba, is a frequent visitor to the United States. This week, he plans to visit a number of Hollywood studios, reportedly to strike up content deals.

“I want to come here looking for partners,” he said, adding that China will eventually become the world’s largest movie market.

Alibaba, which handles more e-commerce transactions than Amazon.com and eBay combined, does not have much of a presence among American retail customers and Ma said his focus for now was on serving his Chinese clientele.

Ma added that he wanted to work on selling American and European products to China, reversing the typical flow of goods over the past 10 to 15 years.

Alibaba has acquired some smaller American companies such as niche online retailer 11Main and Ma said he will continue to invest in the United States.

 

Reuters

 

Ivan Castilho
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Ivan Castilho is an entrepreneur and long-time Apple user since 2007, with a background in management and marketing. He holds a degree in Management and Marketing and multiple MBAs in Digital Marketing and Strategic Management. With a natural passion for music, art, graphic design, and interface design, Ivan combines business expertise with a creative mindset. Passionate about technology and innovation, he enjoys writing about disruptive trends and consumer tech, particularly within the Apple ecosystem.