Chinese EBay Rival Branches out With Branded Mobile Phone

From PC World: China's biggest online auction and retail Web site plans to stamp its brand on a new mobile phone, the first time it's name will be put on a device, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

Taobao.com plans this week to announce the phone, which will be co-branded by Lenovo Mobile and come with a pre-installed Taobao application, the source said Wednesday. The handset is part of ongoing efforts by the company to "develop the wireless market," including by drawing more mobile users to Taobao, the source said.

Taobao, where users can buy items from each other or in online stores, is owned by Alibaba Group, which also operates Yahoo China and other top e-commerce Web sites in China, including business-to-business sale platform Alibaba.com. Use of Taobao has soared as more Chinese turn to the Internet to buy everything from phones and laptops to makeup and toasters.

By putting its name on the handset, Taobao is following Amazon.com, which this year started selling electronics accessories like cables and blank DVDs under the AmazonBasics brand name. But the Taobao move would make it one of China's first major e-commerce companies to brand a mobile phone.

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