Alibaba’s winning cloud formula is coming under pressure
Alibaba investors have banked on cloud computing to drive significant growth, as competition in the company’s main e-commerce business heats up. In recent months, however, the cloud unit has parted ways with a major customer, was given the cold shoulder by some Chinese government clients and has overhauled its organizational structure, people familiar with the matter said.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. reported last week that cloud computing revenue grew 37% in the quarter ended March 31 from the same period a year earlier, the slowest quarterly growth since it went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014. The company said the slowdown was due to the loss of a major Chinese internet client’s international business due to “non-product related requirements."
That client was ByteDance Ltd., the owner of the social-video app...
