Trip.com Group CEO Downplays Market Share Against China Antitrust Backdrop
Dennis Schaal
May 26th, 2021 at 2:30 AM EDT
Skift Take
Behind the scenes, China's competition crackdown on internet platforms could eventually have a larger impact on Trip.com Group's partnerships, business practices, and mergers than is generally appreciated. Although a reversal is unlikely, even Trip.com's 2015 acquisition of Qunar has drawn scrutiny.
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Given China's crackdown on internet platforms in February, Trip.com Group officials did something they rarely do — trot out specific market share numbers in a recent earnings call.
After one analyst asked Trip.com CEO Jie Sun last week whether China's largest travel seller would be able to avoid penalties for price discrimination or monopoly power, Sun said Trip.com supports the government's efforts to create a "healthy" market environment.
"Our market share is quite small still," Sun said, adding that the company's domestic market share in 2019 was 13 percent. She was referring to the company's market share of the total Chinese travel market, including offline tour operators, hotels and airlines.
Co-founder and Executive Chairman Jianzhang Liang said Trip.com's domestic market share is "mid-teens," and that globally it "is still in the low single digits."
Both officials emphasized Trip.com Group has plenty of room to grow, and didn't mention the compan
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