When the venture was first announced in January 2000, the two companies had agreed to license Priceline's technology for matching vendors with customers and to use Hutchison's strong retail network of nearly 800 retail outlets throughout Asia. At the time, a statement issued by the companies said that a service for airline ticket purchasing would be up and running by the end of 2000. That has yet to happen. Hutchison spokeswoman Nora Yong said the joint venture will launch services later in 2001. We are not disclosing exactly when yet, but we are working hard at adapting the model and looking at consumer demand in Asia.
Analysts differ on the significance of the deal.
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter told clients that it would yield Li's companies a quick profit, but, because of its relatively small size, have little impact overall. Whatever the plan, it will take time. Gupta doesn't cover Hutchison, but has been watching the progress of e-commerce services here. Travel services are the best of the lot. But even if that happens, it won't be easy until later to plug and play that in Asia.