Heavy is the crown that Shopee wears

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Hi readers,

When Sea’s third-quarter results came out, the conclusion was that the tech giant is not out of the woods yet. But the numbers are encouraging, particularly for Shopee – enough to justify the tough decisions it made (layoffs, market exits) earlier this year.

I’m sure Sea’s management is happy with the results, but after Shopee’s numbers came out, it felt as if the entire tech world, too, let out a collective sigh of relief.

It just goes to show just how Shopee’s struggles (as well as its wins) reverberate beyond its four walls: Whatever’s happening to the ecommerce giant will impact not just the people inside Shopee but also the buyers and sellers on their platform, their competitors, and ultimately, the health of the region’s entire ecommerce space.

Is it fair to put that burden on Shopee? Or, on the flipside, is it right for a seed-stage startup to be affected by a company it (mostly) has nothing to do with? Maybe not. But it’s understandable. In other words, if Shopee – given its size, market share, and war chest – is struggling, then what hope does the rest of the sector have?

For now, it seems that the worst has passed – though with the global economy the way it is, you can’t really be sure. In the earnings call, Sea CEO Forrest Li said he is mindful of potential macro headwinds. As for the rest of us, our eyes are inevitably trained on his company.

— Putra Muskita, journalist at Tech in Asia

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Image credit: Timmy Loen

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