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Alibaba has been on quite a shopping spree. In the past year the Chinese ecommerce company has spent more than $2bn taking a stake in, or buying outright, more than 10 smaller companies. These include map makers, social media sites, web browsers, logistics companies and a US site inspired by Parisian flea markets.
阿里巴巴(Alibaba)近來一直在大舉收購(gòu)。過去一年里，這家中國(guó)電子商務(wù)公司動(dòng)用資金逾20億美元，或入股或直接收購(gòu)了超過10家規(guī)模較小的公司。這些公司包括地圖軟件制作商、社交媒體網(wǎng)站、網(wǎng)絡(luò)瀏覽器、物流公司以及一家創(chuàng)意源自巴黎跳蚤市場(chǎng)的美國(guó)網(wǎng)站。
This dealmaking madness has a method. Alibaba is rushing to shore up areas of weakness ahead of a hotly anticipated initial public offering this year, which could value its equity at more than at $100bn. Revenue growth has been slowing because of competition and the fact that the company already controls 80 per cent of ecommerce in China.
這輪“大采購(gòu)”是有章法可循的。今年，阿里巴巴將進(jìn)行各方熱切期待的首次公開發(fā)行(IPO)，屆時(shí)該公司的估值可能超過1000億美元。目前，阿里巴巴正急于在IPO之前彌補(bǔ)其經(jīng)營(yíng)短板。由于競(jìng)爭(zhēng)加劇及該公司已控制中國(guó)80%電子商務(wù)的事實(shí)，該公司近期營(yíng)收增長(zhǎng)放緩。
Selling to the US and the rest of the world is “the direction we want to move in”, says Annie Xu, Alibaba’s US general manager. But, for now, Alibaba is targeting American and Chinese start-ups that can help it fend off local rivals Tencent and Baidu, as ecommerce in the world’s most populous nation shifts rapidly to mobile devices.
阿里巴巴美國(guó)區(qū)總經(jīng)理許潔(Annie Xu)表示，“我們努力的方向是”對(duì)美國(guó)及世界其它地區(qū)的銷售。但就目前而言，阿里巴巴收購(gòu)的目標(biāo)都是那些能幫助其抵御騰訊(Tencent)和百度(Baidu)這類國(guó)內(nèi)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手的美國(guó)和中國(guó)初創(chuàng)企業(yè)。原因是在世界人口最多的國(guó)家，電子商務(wù)正迅速向移動(dòng)設(shè)備轉(zhuǎn)移。
Alibaba’s investment in ecommerce delivery group ShopRunner – one of at least four US companies it has taken a stake in during the past 12 months – is a case in point. While ShopRunner could eventually help Alibaba sell to US consumers, in the meantime the plan is to use its US logistics network to let Chinese consumers buy goods online from US merchants’ sites.
阿里巴巴對(duì)電子商務(wù)配送集團(tuán)ShopRunner（該公司是阿里巴巴過去12個(gè)月里入股的至少4家美國(guó)企業(yè)之一）的投資就是一個(gè)例子。盡管ShopRunner最終可能有助于阿里巴巴對(duì)美國(guó)消費(fèi)者的銷售，但與此同時(shí)，收購(gòu)該公司是為了通過其美國(guó)物流網(wǎng)絡(luò)，讓中國(guó)消費(fèi)者能夠從美國(guó)商家的網(wǎng)站上在線購(gòu)買商品。
Under the new service, which is not yet launched, ShopRunner will handle US logistics and Alibaba will manage customs, delivery and payments. Alibaba’s “core competence is still selling to the Chinese consumer in China”, says Ms Xu, and ShopRunner will help expand that business.
在還未推出的新服務(wù)中，ShopRunner將管理在美國(guó)的物流事務(wù)，而阿里巴巴將管理清關(guān)、送貨及支付方面的事務(wù)。許潔表示，阿里巴巴的“核心競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力仍然是針對(duì)中國(guó)國(guó)內(nèi)消費(fèi)者的銷售”，ShopRunner將有助于擴(kuò)大這一業(yè)務(wù)。
“Chinese consumers are crazy about anything not made in China,” she adds.” Fulfilling that need “is still a huge opportunity”.
她補(bǔ)充說：“對(duì)任何非中國(guó)制造的商品，中國(guó)消費(fèi)者都趨之若鶩。（對(duì)這一需求的滿足）仍是一個(gè)巨大的機(jī)遇。”
Mobile dealmaking at home
移動(dòng)領(lǐng)域的國(guó)內(nèi)收購(gòu)
The pace of Alibaba’s dealmaking in China has been even more intense. There the key word is mobile. In China Alibaba and its rivals are all scrambling to respond to the rapid growth in smartphone adoption.
阿里巴巴近來在國(guó)內(nèi)的收購(gòu)活動(dòng)更為密集?！耙苿?dòng)”是這些收購(gòu)活動(dòng)的關(guān)鍵字。在中國(guó)，阿里巴巴及其競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手都在爭(zhēng)相應(yīng)對(duì)智能手機(jī)的迅速普及。
“If Alibaba has a perceived weakness going into the IPO, it is in the mobile internet,” says an executive at a competitor who asked not to be named. “It’s the same thing with all big Chinese internet companies. Mobile just sort of snuck up on them.”
在某一家競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手公司，一名要求匿名的高管表示：“如果說阿里巴巴上市時(shí)存在明顯短板，那就是移動(dòng)互聯(lián)網(wǎng)領(lǐng)域。中國(guó)所有大型互聯(lián)網(wǎng)企業(yè)都有同樣問題。移動(dòng)互聯(lián)網(wǎng)正悄然向它們發(fā)起沖擊。”
The number of Chinese mobile users overtook the number of PC users in 2012, and the gap is growing. The percentage of internet users who say they use PCs is 69.7 per cent, a decline from 2012, while the percentage who use smartphones has risen to 81 per cent, according to data from a research group affiliated with the government. Most people, of course, use both.
中國(guó)移動(dòng)設(shè)備用戶數(shù)在2012年就超過了個(gè)人電腦(PC)用戶數(shù)，兩者之間的差距還在不斷擴(kuò)大。根據(jù)一家中國(guó)官方研究機(jī)構(gòu)的數(shù)據(jù)，69.7%的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)用戶表示他們是PC用戶，比2012年有所下降，而使用智能手機(jī)的百分比則上升至81%。當(dāng)然，多數(shù)人兩者都用。
With only 45 per cent of the population online, mobile internet growth looks set to continue. In the past year alone, 54m users were added, and analysts say many of the people now getting online will be mobile-first or mobile-only. Smartphones, which are selling for less than $100, are becoming cheaper and China is only starting to introduce superfast 4G networks this year.
考慮到中國(guó)上網(wǎng)人口只占45%，移動(dòng)互聯(lián)網(wǎng)應(yīng)該會(huì)繼續(xù)保持增長(zhǎng)勢(shì)頭。僅去年一年新增的移動(dòng)互聯(lián)網(wǎng)用戶人數(shù)就達(dá)到5400萬(wàn)。分析人士表示，如今許多人優(yōu)先用（甚至只用）移動(dòng)設(shè)備上網(wǎng)。智能手機(jī)正變得更為廉價(jià)，低端設(shè)備售價(jià)已不到100美元。而今年中國(guó)剛開始啟用超高速的4G網(wǎng)絡(luò)。
Mobile was the rationale for Alibaba’s purchase of map software maker Autonavi, which it agreed to take private last Monday in a deal that valued Autonavi at $1.6bn.
阿里巴巴對(duì)地圖軟件制造商高德(Autonavi)的收購(gòu)就是出于移動(dòng)互聯(lián)網(wǎng)服務(wù)的考慮。該公司上周一同意全資收購(gòu)高德公司，在這一交易中對(duì)高德的估值為16億美元。
A better mapping service will help Alibaba capture consumers who use their smartphones to find places to shop, while also encouraging them to make the purchases by phone instead, which would link up with the company’s Alipay, which is like PayPal.
更好的地圖服務(wù)將有助于阿里巴巴吸引那些用智能手機(jī)查找店鋪的顧客。此外，通過手機(jī)與阿里巴巴支付寶(Alipay)的連接，這種服務(wù)還鼓勵(lì)顧客使用手機(jī)完成購(gòu)物。支付寶是一種與PayPal類似的支付平臺(tái)。
A recent investment in Kuadi Dache, a smartphone app that lets people hail taxis and pay via Alipay, is in part meant to get people used to mobile payments, according to people familiar with the investment.
根據(jù)知情人士的說法，阿里巴巴最近投資快的打車(Kuaidi Dache)，部分目的就是為了讓用戶習(xí)慣于使用移動(dòng)支付?？斓拇蜍囀且环N能讓用戶召喚出租車并通過支付寶支付的應(yīng)用。
Mobile was also the reason it took an undisclosed sake in UCWeb, which makes the most popular smartphone browser in China, which Alibaba could use to drive traffic to its site. “The overarching strategy is to move into the mobile internet, but some of the acquisitions are offensive and some are defensive in nature,” says Michael Clendenin of Redtech Advisors, a Shanghai-based business consultancy.
移動(dòng)互聯(lián)網(wǎng)同樣也是阿里巴巴買入U(xiǎn)CWeb股權(quán)（數(shù)額未公開）的原因。UCWeb是中國(guó)最受歡迎的智能手機(jī)瀏覽器制作商，阿里巴巴可能會(huì)用這種瀏覽器將流量引導(dǎo)至自己的網(wǎng)站。上海商業(yè)資訊公司睿析科技(RedTech Advisors)的邁克爾•克倫德寧(Michael Clendenin)表示：“阿里巴巴的總體戰(zhàn)略是進(jìn)入移動(dòng)互聯(lián)網(wǎng)市場(chǎng)。不過，他們有些收購(gòu)行為是進(jìn)攻性的，有些則是防御性的?！?/div>
Fending off Tencent and Baidu
擊退騰訊和百度
The groups Alibaba is defending itself against include, most notably, Tencent and Baidu.
阿里巴巴集團(tuán)正在打一場(chǎng)防御戰(zhàn)，它最明顯的對(duì)手就包括騰訊和百度。
Tencent developed the hugely popular chat app WeChat, which is evolving into a “one-stop online lifestyle service platform”, says Cynthia Meng at Jefferies. The app already offers ecommerce and investment services, and could soon be planning to push into mobile banking, she adds.
騰訊開發(fā)了極為流行的聊天應(yīng)用微信(WeChat)。杰富瑞證券公司(Jefferies)的Cynthia Meng表示，該應(yīng)用正演化成一種“一站式在線生活方式服務(wù)平臺(tái)”。她補(bǔ)充說，該應(yīng)用已經(jīng)在提供電商和投資服務(wù)，并可能很快規(guī)劃進(jìn)軍手機(jī)銀行業(yè)務(wù)。
A Chinese new year promotion encouraged millions to link their bank account to WeChat as a way of sending traditional holiday presents of money – or “red packets” – to friends.
在農(nóng)歷新年的一次推廣活動(dòng)中，該應(yīng)用鼓勵(lì)數(shù)以百萬(wàn)計(jì)的人將銀行賬號(hào)與微信相連，以便向朋友發(fā)送傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日禮物“紅包”。
Baidu, the search and media group, has also been active in mobile-focused acquisitions, and has spent as much as, if not more than, Alibaba on dealmaking in the past year, including $1.9bn on a popular Chinese app store.
過去一年里，搜索和媒體集團(tuán)百度在移動(dòng)領(lǐng)域的收購(gòu)也十分活躍，其在并購(gòu)交易上動(dòng)用的資金不在阿里巴巴之下，包括斥資19億美元收購(gòu)中國(guó)一家流行的應(yīng)用商店。
Among Alibaba’s defensive plays, Mr Clendenin says, was its purchase last April of 18 per cent in Nasdaq-listed Sina Weibo. The Twitter-like microblogging site lets Alibaba mix more social media with its ecommerce, moving into the same area as WeChat. “They had a blind spot and they were getting their butt kicked by Weixin [WeChat],” he says. “Weibo was a blocking manoeuvre.”
克倫德寧表示，阿里巴巴的防御性舉措之一是去年4月購(gòu)得在納斯達(dá)克(Nasdaq)上市的新浪微博(Weibo) 18%股權(quán)。新浪微博是一個(gè)類似推特(Twitter)的微博網(wǎng)站，讓阿里巴巴能在其電子商務(wù)業(yè)務(wù)中加入更多社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)元素，從而進(jìn)入微信所在的領(lǐng)域。他表示：“過去，他們的業(yè)務(wù)存在盲區(qū)，這讓他們被微信打得無法還手。入股新浪微博是一個(gè)招架動(dòng)作?！?/div>
Part of the challenge for Alibaba, analysts say, is that the large scale of its core ecommerce business means accelerating growth relative to the market will take substantial new business. Despite such worries, Alibaba’s revenues last quarter increased by more than half over a year ago.
分析人士表示，阿里巴巴面臨的部分挑戰(zhàn)在于，該公司核心的電子商務(wù)業(yè)務(wù)規(guī)模太大，這意味著該公司必須開拓大量新業(yè)務(wù)才能實(shí)現(xiàn)相對(duì)于市場(chǎng)的加速增長(zhǎng)。不過，盡管存在這種擔(dān)憂，阿里巴巴上季度的營(yíng)收增幅同比還是超過了一半。
The Russian frontier
俄羅斯市場(chǎng)的前線
While there are still vast opportunities offered by the Chinese market, Alibaba will at some point have to look further afield to continue its growth. But instead of a showdown with Amazon in Europe and the US, the most likely arena for its next expansion may be Russia, where Alibaba will clash with market leader Ozon and eBay, which is also making a push into the market.
盡管中國(guó)市場(chǎng)仍存在巨大商機(jī)，但阿里巴巴為保持增長(zhǎng)勢(shì)頭，總有一天將不得不把目光投向更遙遠(yuǎn)的地方。不過，該公司不太可能在歐美與亞馬遜(Amazon)展開對(duì)決。相反，它最有可能的下一個(gè)擴(kuò)張目標(biāo)是俄羅斯。在那里，它將與占市場(chǎng)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)地位的Ozon以及同樣在擠入這一市場(chǎng)的eBay展開競(jìng)爭(zhēng)。
Alibaba last year launched a Russian site for its AliExpress business. AliExpress is a unit that typically sells to wholesale buyers outside China, but it also lets shoppers buy in smaller quantities.
去年，阿里巴巴為其全球速賣通(AliExpress)業(yè)務(wù)推出一個(gè)俄語(yǔ)網(wǎng)站。全球速賣通銷售的目標(biāo)通常是國(guó)外批發(fā)商，但也會(huì)讓購(gòu)物者購(gòu)買少量商品。
The AliExpress site is far less slick than most ecommerce sites in the US and Europe, and it uses machine translation for some text, as few of the retailers listing goods on the site speak Russian. Sellers with names such as ABC Co from Guangdong province sell $18 dashboard cameras for cars, a popular item in Russia. Others offer dresses for under $10, or fur-lined men’s shoes for $25.
全球速賣通網(wǎng)站的運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不如歐美多數(shù)電子商務(wù)網(wǎng)站流暢。由于在該網(wǎng)站上列出商品的零售商幾乎沒人懂俄語(yǔ)，網(wǎng)頁(yè)上部分文字還是用機(jī)器翻譯而成的。在該網(wǎng)站上，類似廣東省ABC Co等名稱的賣家以18美元出售車用儀表盤攝像頭，一種在俄羅斯很受歡迎的商品。此外還有賣家以不到10美元的價(jià)格出售衣服，或以25美元的價(jià)格出售帶毛皮襯里的男鞋。
Alibaba has been working on getting into the market for a few years. In 2012 it struck a deal with Qiwi, the leading online payment provider, to help Russians buy AliExpress goods.
幾年來，阿里巴巴一直在致力于進(jìn)入俄羅斯市場(chǎng)。2012年，該公司與俄羅斯最大的在線支付提供商Qiwi達(dá)成一個(gè)協(xié)議，以幫助俄羅斯人購(gòu)買全球速賣通上提供的商品。
| 重點(diǎn)單詞 | 查看全部解釋 | |||
| population | [.pɔpju'leiʃən] |
想一想再看 n. 人口 ，(全體)居民，人數(shù) |
聯(lián)想記憶 | |
| frontier | ['frʌntjə] |
想一想再看 n. 邊界，邊境，尖端，邊緣 |
聯(lián)想記憶 | |
| weakness | ['wi:knis] |
想一想再看 n. 軟弱 |
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| undisclosed |
想一想再看 adj. 未泄露的；身分不明的；保持秘密的 |
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| delivery | [di'livəri] |
想一想再看 n. 遞送，交付，分娩 |
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| decline | [di'klain] |
想一想再看 n. 衰微，跌落; 晚年 |
||
| network | ['netwə:k] |
想一想再看 n. 網(wǎng)絡(luò)，網(wǎng)狀物，網(wǎng)狀系統(tǒng) |
||
| promotion | [prə'məuʃən] |
想一想再看 n. 晉升，促進(jìn)，提升 |
聯(lián)想記憶 | |
| traditional | [trə'diʃənəl] |
想一想再看 adj. 傳統(tǒng)的 |
||
| executive | [ig'zekjutiv] |
想一想再看 adj. 行政的，決策的，經(jīng)營(yíng)的，[計(jì)算機(jī)]執(zhí)行指令 |
