中国烧钱大战拖累优步业绩巨亏

 　　Uber’s costly¹ 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 Silicon² Valley.

　　优步(Uber)为争夺中国叫车市场而进行的烧钱大战致使其在2016年上半年亏损13亿美元，同时也使这家总部位于旧金山的公司成为硅谷亏损最严重的公司之一。

　　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.

　　通过智能手机应用在60多个国家提供叫车服务的优步，在中国、印度等市场支出了大量资金，并且陷入了与本土对手的激烈竞争。

　　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 subsidy³ war there.

　　然而，优步的亏损今年下半年有可能减少，因为该公司本月早些时候已将其中国业务出售给了本土竞争对手滴滴出行(Didi Chuxing)——事实上结束了在中国代价高昂的补贴大战。

　　Uber is one of Silicon Valley’s best-funded companies, raising more than $15bn in equity⁴ and debt from investors⁵, and recently achieving a $68bn valuation.

　　优步是硅谷资金最充裕的公司之一，通过股本和举债从投资者那里筹集了150多亿美元，公司最近估值达680亿美元。

　　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, depreciation⁶ and amortisation.

　　据彭博(Bloomberg)最先报道的消息，按息税折旧及摊销前利润(EBITDA)计算，优步在今年第一季度亏损5.2亿美元，第二季度亏损超过7.5亿美元。

　　Travis Kalanick, chief executive, has previously⁷ 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.

　　优步首席执行官特拉维斯?卡兰尼克(Travis Kalanick)此前曾对英国《金融时报》表示，今年首季优步在美国、澳大利亚以及欧洲、中东和非洲地区实现了盈利。

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

　　同一时期，优步在中国和印度投入巨大，并且在拓展进入新的市场。

　　However, the US turned unprofitable during the second quarter of this year, with losses of $100m according to Bloomberg, as Uber boosted subsidies⁸ to compete with its rival Lyft.

　　然而，彭博的数据显示，由于为与对手Lyft竞争而提高了补贴，今年第二季度优步在美国未实现盈利，亏损了1亿美元。

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

　　优步提高补贴是为了应对Lyft不断上升的市场份额——后者在旧金山等重要市场达到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.

　　一位接近优步的人士表示，该公司的目标是在其运营的每个美国城市都保持约80%的市场份额。

　　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.

　　随着对中国市场的争夺告一段落，优步正在加大对需要大量投资的新项目的关注，包括绘制地图、无人驾驶汽车以及可以租赁给司机的车队。

　　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 jointly⁹ develop autonomous¹⁰ vehicles.

　　几周后，优步将在匹兹堡试点其首次推出的无人驾驶出租车服务，该公司还已经与沃尔沃(Volvo)签约共同研发自主汽车。

　　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.

　　突显这种企业战略转变的是，优步今年7月还进行了其有史以来最大规模的收购——将无人驾驶卡车初创公司Otto收入囊中，该公司由Alphabet无人驾驶项目的几名主要成员创立。

　　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的资助者获得了价值约6.8亿美元的优步股份，以及一项从未来任何货运业务中获得20%利润的担保。

　　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.

　　作为此次收购的一部分，除了在匹兹堡的研发中心，优步还将在帕洛阿尔托和旧金山设立无人驾驶研发中心。

　　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 dependence¹¹ on Google Maps.

　　优步还准备在绘制地图方面投入5亿美元，该公司试图绘制更精准的地图，减少对谷歌地图(Google Maps)的依赖。

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

　　优步绘制地图的汽车已经在美国和墨西哥上路。

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

　　优步的投资者包括高盛(Goldman Sachs)、风险投资公司Benchmark以及沙特阿拉伯的主权财富基金。

1 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

2 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

3 subsidy   

n.补助金，津贴

参考例句：

• The university will receive a subsidy for research in artificial intelligence.那个大学将得到一笔人工智能研究的补助费。
• The living subsidy for senior expert's family is included in the remuneration.报酬已包含高级专家家人的生活补贴。

4 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

5 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

6 depreciation   

n.价值低落，贬值，蔑视，贬低

参考例句：

• She can't bear the depreciation of the enemy.她受不了敌人的蹂躏。
• They wrote off 500 for depreciation of machinery.他们注销了500镑作为机器折旧费。

7 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

8 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 jointly   

ad.联合地，共同地

参考例句：

• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。
• She owns the house jointly with her husband. 她和丈夫共同拥有这所房子。

10 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

11 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。