????亞馬遜（Amazon）的短期虧本銷售似乎還將繼續(xù)下去。

????亞馬遜稱（第三季度）銷售額較去年同期增長27%，從108.8億美元增加到了138.1億美元，但經(jīng)營虧損高達(dá)2,800萬美元。而華爾街此前預(yù)測亞馬遜經(jīng)營虧損接近7,500萬美元，但其預(yù)測的營收也更高，為139億美元。與此同時(shí)，亞馬遜凈利潤降至-2.74億美元，即每股虧損0.60美分。而就在一年前，該公司凈利潤還有6,300萬美元。亞馬遜預(yù)計(jì)第四季度收入在202.5-227.5億美元之間。財(cái)報(bào)發(fā)布后，亞馬遜股價(jià)在盤后交易中下跌了近8%。

????上季度的虧損部分原因在于亞馬遜斥資1.75億美元投資團(tuán)購網(wǎng)站LivingSocial，并因此損失了1.69億美元；還有一部分原因在于亞馬遜目前采取了犧牲短期利潤的戰(zhàn)略，以換取長期收益和更大的市場份額。

????過去一年，亞馬遜在公司擴(kuò)張上投入重金，其中包括興建更多的運(yùn)營中心。公司首席財(cái)務(wù)官湯姆?斯庫塔克在媒體收益電話會(huì)議上稱，19家新的運(yùn)營中心將在假日季期間建成并投入運(yùn)營。此外，還有一兩個(gè)倉庫可能將在今年第四季度或明年年初建好。

????亞馬遜還投入巨資于龐大的亞馬遜網(wǎng)絡(luò)服務(wù)業(yè)務(wù)和Kindle系列產(chǎn)品。本月早些時(shí)候，公司首席執(zhí)行官杰夫?貝索斯透露，最新款Kindle——升級版Kindle Fire以及帶背光功能的Kindle Paperwhite——是在以成本價(jià)銷售，并沒有給亞馬遜帶來利潤。相比之下，科技網(wǎng)站CNET近來報(bào)道稱，蘋果（Apple）WiFi版iPad的利潤率保持在40%上下。

????貝索斯在一份聲明中稱：“我們的辦法是努力降低售價(jià)。以保本價(jià)銷售設(shè)備，就能以很低的價(jià)格，打包銷售許多高性能硬件。”貝索斯特指亞馬遜上月推出的7英寸、售價(jià)199美元的Kindle Fire。該產(chǎn)品已成為亞馬遜全球頭號(hào)暢銷產(chǎn)品。最近發(fā)布的Kindle Paperwhite以及69美元Kindle則分列銷量亞軍和季軍。

????投資者仍然緊盯著亞馬遜較低的零售利潤率及其對技術(shù)、分銷能力和內(nèi)容的大量投資，這一點(diǎn)可以理解。不過我們相信，亞馬遜有能力從其它方面擴(kuò)大營運(yùn)利潤率，”證券公司Robert W. Baird分析師科林?塞巴斯蒂安上周早些時(shí)候?qū)懙馈?/p>

????確實(shí)，大多數(shù)分析師仍然看好亞馬遜的前景。瑞德資本市場（Lazard Capital Markets）分析師阿圖爾?巴戈預(yù)測，亞馬遜目前正從純粹的電子商務(wù)網(wǎng)站轉(zhuǎn)型成強(qiáng)大的數(shù)字媒體平臺(tái)。“我們相信亞馬遜具備三大比較優(yōu)勢，并能因此展開競爭并控制數(shù)字媒體平臺(tái)：1）信任；2）技術(shù)；3) 基礎(chǔ)支付設(shè)施。”巴戈本周早些時(shí)候在報(bào)告中寫道：“雖然我們相信從亞馬遜在目前股票估值下的現(xiàn)有業(yè)務(wù)來看，如今的投資無可厚非；但我們同樣認(rèn)為，亞馬遜平臺(tái)的下一步目標(biāo)將是數(shù)字虛擬商品主流平臺(tái)。”

????換言之，對于那些沒有減持的亞馬遜股東，好日子還在后頭。

????譯者：項(xiàng)航

????Amazon's short-term sacrifices appear to be continuing.

????Amazon (AMZN) reported a 27% sales increase to $13.81 billion, up from $10.88 billion the same time last year, and an operating loss of $28 million. That was off from Wall Street's estimates, which had predicted an operating loss of nearly $75 million, but higher revenues of $13.9 billion. Meanwhile, profits dropped to a loss of $274 million, or $0.60 cents per share, compared to a net income of $63 million a year ago. For the fourth quarter, the company expects revenues of between $20.25 billion and $22.75 billion. Amazon shares were down nearly 8% in after hours trading following the announcement.

????The loss this quarter was due in part to the company's $175 million investment in LivingSocial, which it lost $169 million on. The remaining loss was due to Amazon's ongoing strategy of sacrificing short-term profitability for long-term revenues and market gains.

????Over the last year, the company has invested heavily in expansion, which includes building more fulfillment centers. During a media earnings call, CFO Tom Szkutak said 19 new fulfillment centers would be up and running for the holiday season, with an additional one or two warehouses potentially ready during the fourth quarter or early next year.

????Amazon has also invested heavily in its vast Amazon Web Services business and the launch of products in its Kindle line. Earlier this month, CEO Jeff Bezos revealed the latest Kindles -- updated Kindle Fire units and the self-lit Kindle Paperwhite -- do not profit Amazon and are sold at cost. Just for comparison, CNET recently reported that Apple (AAPL) hovers a round a 40% margin on its WiFi-based iPad.

????"Our approach is to work hard to charge less. Sell devices near breakeven and you can pack a lot of sophisticated hardware into a very low price point," said Bezos in a statement, pointing to the 7-inch $199 Kindle Fire the company released last month. That version has since gone on to become Amazon's #1 bestselling product around the world. The recently released Kindle Paperwhite and $69 Kindle are the number two and three bestselling products, respectively.

????"While investors remain understandably focused on Amazon's sub-scale retail margins and significant investments in technology, distribution capacity, and content, we believe that other segments should provide more comfort in potential operating margin expansion," wrote Robert W. Baird analyst Colin Sebastian earlier this week.

????Indeed, the majority of analysts remain bullish on the company. Looking further out, Lazard Capital Markets analyst Atul Bagga predicts Amazon is currently in the midst of a transition from pure e-commerce player to powerful digital media platform. "We believe Amazon has three competitive advantages that will allow it to compete in, and potentially dominate, digital media platforms: 1) trust; 2) technology; and 3) payment infrastructure," Bagga wrote in a report earlier this week. "While we believe investment today is justified by its existing businesses at the current stock valuation, we also think that the next iteration of the Amazon platform will represent the dominant platform for digital and virtual goods as well."

????In other words: good things may yet come to those shareholders who wait.