中國燒錢大戰拖累優步業績鉅虧

Uber’s costly battle for the Chinese ride-sharing market helped drive losses of $1.3bn during the first half of 2016, making the San Francisco-based company one of the most deeply lossmaking in Silicon Valley.

優步(Uber)爲爭奪中國叫車市場而進行的燒錢大戰致使其在2016年上半年虧損13億美元，同時也使這家總部位於舊金山的公司成爲硅谷虧損最嚴重的公司之一。

The company, which offers transportation through its smartphone app in more than 60 countries, had been spending heavily in markets such as China and India, where it was locked in competition with local rivals.

通過智能手機應用在60多個國家提供叫車服務的優步，在中國、印度等市場支出了大量資金，並且陷入了與本土對手的激烈競爭。

However, the losses may decline later this year after Uber sold its China unit to local rival Didi Chuxing earlier this month, in effect ending its costly subsidy war there.

然而，優步的虧損今年下半年有可能減少，因爲該公司本月早些時候已將其中國業務出售給了本土競爭對手滴滴出行(Didi Chuxing)——事實上結束了在中國代價高昂的補貼大戰。

Uber is one of Silicon Valley’s best-funded companies, raising more than $15bn in equity and debt from investors, and recently achieving a $68bn valuation.

優步是硅谷資金最充裕的公司之一，通過股本和舉債從投資者那裏籌集了150多億美元，公司最近估值達680億美元。

The losses, which were first reported by Bloomberg, came to $520m during the first quarter and more than $750m during the second quarter, on a measure before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.

據彭博(Bloomberg)最先報道的消息，按息稅折舊及攤銷前利潤(EBITDA)計算，優步在今年第一季度虧損5.2億美元，第二季度虧損超過7.5億美元。

Travis Kalanick, chief executive, has previously told the Financial Times that Uber was profitable during the first quarter in the US, Australia and the region of Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

優步首席執行官特拉維斯•卡蘭尼克(Travis Kalanick)此前曾對英國《金融時報》表示，今年首季優步在美國、澳大利亞以及歐洲、中東和非洲地區實現了盈利。

The company spent heavily in China and India during that time, as well as expanding to new markets.

同一時期，優步在中國和印度投入巨大，並且在拓展進入新的市場。

However, the US turned unprofitable during the second quarter of this year, with losses of $100m according to Bloomberg, as Uber boosted subsidies to compete with its rival Lyft.

然而，彭博的數據顯示，由於爲與對手Lyft競爭而提高了補貼，今年第二季度優步在美國未實現盈利，虧損了1億美元。

Uber was responding to Lyft’s rising market share, which had reached 40 per cent in key markets such as San Francisco.

優步提高補貼是爲了應對Lyft不斷上升的市場份額——後者在舊金山等重要市場達到40%。

Uber aims to maintain a market share of about 80 per cent in each US city where it operates, according to a person close to the company.

一位接近優步的人士表示，該公司的目標是在其運營的每個美國城市都保持約80%的市場份額。

With the battle for China now out of the way, Uber has been increasing its focus on new projects that will require heavy investment, including mapping, driverless cars and car fleets that can be leased to drivers.

隨着對中國市場的爭奪告一段落，優步正在加大對需要大量投資的新項目的關注，包括繪製地圖、無人駕駛汽車以及可以租賃給司機的車隊。

The company will be piloting its first driverless car taxi service in Pittsburgh in a few weeks’ time, and has inked a deal with Volvo to jointly develop autonomous vehicles.

幾周後，優步將在匹茲堡試點其首次推出的無人駕駛出租車服務，該公司還已經與沃爾沃(Volvo)簽約共同研發自主汽車。

Underscoring this shift in focus, Uber also made its largest ever acquisition in July, when it bought Otto, a driverless truck start-up founded by several key members of Alphabet’s driverless programme.

突顯這種企業戰略轉變的是，優步今年7月還進行了其有史以來最大規模的收購——將無人駕駛卡車初創公司Otto收入囊中，該公司由Alphabet無人駕駛項目的幾名主要成員創立。

Otto’s backers received a stake in Uber worth about $680m as well as a guarantee of 20 per cent of future profits from any trucking business.

Otto的資助者獲得了價值約6.8億美元的優步股份，以及一項從未來任何貨運業務中獲得20%利潤的擔保。

As part of that acquisition Uber will open driverless research centres in Palo Alto and in San Francisco, in addition to its research centre in Pittsburgh.

作爲此次收購的一部分，除了在匹茲堡的研發中心，優步還將在帕洛阿爾託和舊金山設立無人駕駛研發中心。

The company is also preparing to spend half a billion dollars on its mapping efforts as it seeks to build more accurate maps and reduce its dependence on Google Maps.

優步還準備在繪製地圖方面投入5億美元，該公司試圖繪製更精準的地圖，減少對谷歌地圖(Google Maps)的依賴。

It already has mapping cars on the road in the US and Mexico.

優步繪製地圖的汽車已經在美國和墨西哥上路。

Uber’s investors include Goldman Sachs, Benchmark, and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.

優步的投資者包括高盛(Goldman Sachs)、風險投資公司Benchmark以及沙特阿拉伯的主權財富基金。