In one of the most drastic dot-com cutbacks since the "new economy" bubble burst in Spring, Hong Kong media tycoon, Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, has shut almost all the Internet operations of his Next Media empire.
Around 100 atnext.com staff arriving for work at their on Tuesday were told that, for reasons of "business reorganisation", they were being laid off.
Next Media's news, finance, entertainment, soccer and lifestyle Web sites were closed. Only its horse-racing Web site survived the axe, along with around 20 production, information technology and editorial staff. It will continue to put the contents of Apple Daily, Next magazine and Mr Lai's other publications online.
It is the second wave of job cuts in the past three months at Next Media. In July, 98 jobs were lost from appledaily.com and nextmedia.com, which were then renamed atnext.com.
Analysts said the closure was a setback for the firm. "As the company substantially scales down its Internet business, it appears to be turning from a new economy stock back to an ordinary media counter," said analyst Tommy Ho Kin-tak, adding that in the long term the move would hit the firm's stock price.
Next Media, the listed arm of Mr Lai's media empire, has seen its share price plunge more than 90 per cent from its peak in March.
Stephen Shiu Yeuk-yuen, chairman of portal operator Skynet, which operates nearly 30 sites in Hong Kong said: "I'm very sorry to hear the news. It shows the current adverse sentiment has deterred many Internet players."
Mr Lai, who founded and still owns the highly profitable Apple Daily and Next, sold part of his privately owned online shopping centre Admart to cut losses in August.
Sources say the recent scaling down of the local operation is part of Mr Lai's plan to move to Taiwan by January and develop a publishing business there. Mr Lai reportedly wants to set up a Taiwan version of Next.
The Hong Kong Information Technology and Network Engineering Employees Association claimed Next Media had gone back on a promise made in July that it would not lay off any more Internet workers.
"Being a large corporation that boasts a readership of thousands, Next Media has its share of public responsibility to shoulder and by engaging in such unjustified action today, it has set a bad example for others to follow," said association administrator Fan Kwok-fai.
Journalists Association chairwoman Mak Yin-ting said that although saddened by the news, she was not too worried about the employment prospects of those who had lost their jobs. "With new satellite TV stations to commence broadcasting in the next several months, there will be some new job openings around," she said.
