WMBT encounters Waterloo (2)

As a contract manufacturer of products for technology firms such as Apple and Hewlett-Packard, Foxconn should have cost advantages, but in fact, WMBT's costs for some products tended to be even higher than the prices offered by other retailers, and some stores frequently ran out of stock, the former manager of WMBT said.

He left WMBT after working there less than a year, as his store stopped operation due to poor performance, and other store managers who started at the same time have almost all left the company for the same reason.

Foxconn's electronics B2C website E-feihu.com, which was also set up in 2010, is currently in the process of liquidation and will soon cease operation, Internet information provider ebrun.com reported on March 1.

Foxconn's attempts at retailing failed partly due to its lack of retail chain experience, Liu from Jiachunqiu said.

He said that local appliance retailers Suning and Gome have dominated the market, leaving few opportunities for newcomers.