2021年经济学人 B站--野心勃勃的"中国版YouTube"(2)

Bilibili does so in two main ways: by off?ering games where players purchase virtual items to advance to the next level, and access to original and licensed¹ fi?lms and series. This Netfl?ix-like business, launched in 2018, now has 14.5m paying subscribers.

B站主要通过两种方式实现转化这一目标：一种是向玩家提供需要氪金购买虚拟物品才能升级的游戏，另一种是提供原版和授权的电影及电视剧。这项类似网飞的业务于2018年推出，目前拥有1450万付费用户。

The share of users who pay for things like in-game accessories and subscriptions³ has risen from 3.9% in 2018 to 8.0% in 2020. Receipts from these sources helped Bilibili nearly to double its revenues in each of the past three years, to 12bn yuan ($1.7bn) in 2020. It also sells adverts⁴ on parts of its platform, but they made up less than fifth of its sales (compared with the vast majority of YouTube’s).

游戏内购和付费订阅等的用户比例从2018年的3.9%上升到2020年的8.0%。这些渠道的收入帮助B站在过去三年中的年收入都近乎翻了一番，到2020年达到120亿元人民币（合17亿美元）。B站也在其平台的部分页面销售广告位，但广告收入只占其销售额的不到五分之一（相比之下，油管的绝大多数销售额都来自广告）。

All this has yet to make any money. Last year Bilibili reported an operating loss of 3bn yuan, double the shortfall in 2019. Profi?ts may remain elusive⁵; the company must invest to maintain a pipeline⁶ of addictive⁷ games and pays top dollar to outbid big streamers like iQiyi for the rights to popular movies and shows its nascent⁸ subscription² business needs.

所有这些都还没有让B站赚到钱。去年，B站公布了30亿元的经营亏损，是2019年亏损额的两倍。B站的盈利仍是未知数；该公司必须靠投资来维持令人沉迷的游戏不断上新，并要以高于爱奇艺等大型流媒体的巨额价格竞争热门电影的版权，从而满足其新生的订阅业务需求。

Bilibili’s executives are sanguine⁹. “As our net revenues continue to grow, we do not expect our total content costs as a percentage of total revenue to substantially increase,” they wrote in the prospectus¹⁰ for the fi?rm’s Hong Kong listing. Its share price, down by a third since its February peak, suggests investorswant fi?nally to see some proof.

B站的高管们非常乐观。B站在香港上市时，他们在招股书中写道，“随着净收入持续增长，我们预计总内容成本占总收入的比例不会大幅增加。”该公司的股价自2月份达到峰值后下跌了三分之一，这表明投资者最终希望能看到一些实质证据。

1 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

2 subscription   

n.预订，预订费，亲笔签名，调配法，下标（处方）

参考例句：

• We paid a subscription of 5 pounds yearly.我们按年度缴纳5英镑的订阅费。
• Subscription selling bloomed splendidly.订阅销售量激增。

3 subscriptions   

n.（报刊等的）订阅费( subscription的名词复数 )；捐款；（俱乐部的）会员费；捐助

参考例句：

• Subscriptions to these magazines can be paid in at the post office. 这些杂志的订阅费可以在邮局缴纳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Payment of subscriptions should be made to the club secretary. 会费应交给俱乐部秘书。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 adverts   

advertisements 广告，做广告

参考例句：

• the adverts on television 电视广告
• The adverts are not very informative. 这些广告并没有包含太多有用信息。

5 elusive   

adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的

参考例句：

• Try to catch the elusive charm of the original in translation.翻译时设法把握住原文中难以捉摸的风韵。
• Interpol have searched all the corners of the earth for the elusive hijackers.国际刑警组织已在世界各地搜查在逃的飞机劫持者。

6 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

7 addictive   

adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的，成为习惯的

参考例句：

• The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
• Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。

8 nascent   

adj.初生的，发生中的

参考例句：

• That slim book showed the Chinese intelligentsia and the nascent working class.那本小册子讲述了中国的知识界和新兴的工人阶级。
• Despite a nascent democracy movement,there's little traction for direct suffrage.尽管有过一次新生的民主运动，但几乎不会带来直接选举。

9 sanguine   

adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的

参考例句：

• He has a sanguine attitude to life.他对于人生有乐观的看法。
• He is not very sanguine about our chances of success.他对我们成功的机会不太乐观。

10 prospectus   

n.计划书；说明书；慕股书

参考例句：

• An order form was included with the prospectus.订单附在说明书上。
• The prospectus is the most important instrument of legal document.招股说明书是上市公司信息披露制度最重要法律文件。