Netopia to pull the plug on Thailand operations

Netopia to pull the plug on Thailand operations
The Manila Times (9 Oct 2007)

NETOPIA is pulling the plug on its Thailand operations, according to the Internet café chain operator, Digital Paradise Inc. (DPI). In a briefing, George Tan, DPI president, told reporters that the company decided to close its remaining Internet café branches in Thailand next year. “It’s hard to manage a branch that is far away. Its hard to promote [our products] because of [the] language barrier,” he said. DPI is 75 percent owned by ePLDT, the information communication and technology (ICT) arm of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. The Internet café chain entered the Thai market four years ago with four branches as a “pilot project” for its planned expansion overseas. “The last store in Thailand is doing well, but we decided to close this as our lease agreement will lapse next year,” Tan said. At present, Netopia has 177 branches nationwide, of which, 90 stores are company owned and the remaining operated by franchisees. Tan said the company expects a net loss in the third quarter of the year because of typhoons during the period. “We may not [post a net income] because of the typhoons,” he said. For the first six months, DPI posted a net loss of P11 million, 70 percent lower than in the same period last year. Tan attributed the improvement to the reduction of 18 unprofitable stores last year and efficient operations. The company’s revenue during the period reached P168 million to P170 million or an average monthly revenue of P27 million to P28 million. In the first half, 55 percent of Netopia’s business comes from Internet surfing, communications, training and educational research, 15 percent from on-line and LAN games, and 30 percent from the value-added services such as desktop publishing, photo printing and retail sales of prepaid cards, game cards and storage media. The company also partnered with Drake Training Systems Ltd. to deliver Englishlink training in its Internet cafés nationwide. Lesley Rogan, creator of Englishlink, said the online English school can help Filipinos brush up on their skills through video-streamed English as a Second Language (ESL) online training program for non-native speakers 18 years and older.