Leaders

Europe’s dot.bombs

Hundreds of European Internet companies are facing failure or takeover. How they respond will shape Europe’s business future

|

RECENT events have not been encouraging for Europe's crop of once optimistic Internet start-ups. They include such spectacular collapses as that of boo.com, a spendthrift electronic sports-goods retailer that met impressive standards of corporate extravagance while blithely losing a bundle. This week clickmango, an online health-care business, became the latest of a string of such dot.com casualties. Clickmango's weekly sales had reached the glorious heights of £2,000 ($3,000), a small fraction of the £25,000 it was spending every week to stay in business.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Europe’s dot.bombs”

The electric revolution

From the August 5th 2000 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Discover more

How to make a success of peace talks with Vladimir Putin

The key is robust security guarantees for Ukrainians

Black and white photograph of Javier Milei

Javier Milei: “My contempt for the state is infinite”

Argentina’s president is idolised by the Trumpian right. They should get to know him better



Peace in Lebanon is just a start

Donald Trump must build on Joe Biden’s belated success

From Nixon to China, to Trump to Tehran

Iran is weak. For America’s next president that creates an opportunity

Too many master’s courses are expensive and flaky

Governments should help postgraduates get a better deal