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”
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