| Weibo user growth slows to record low |
新浪微博用户增速创历史新低 |
| Text from: http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001054966 |
随着中国的推特——新浪微博在纽约准备上市，其管理层正在努力地寻找生存之道，让微博在一个政府打压异见、同行竞争激烈的环境下保持威望。 |
| As China’s Twitter-like Sina Weibo microblog prepares for a New York listing, its management is racing to figure out how the service can maintain its relevance amid a government crackdown on dissent and stiff competition from rivals. |
新浪执行总裁曹国伟表示，上一季度新浪微博用户的增速创历史新低。 |
| The numbers of users on the microblog run by internet group Sina grew last quarter at the slowest pace in the history of the service, said Charles Chao, Sina chief executive. |
他说：“对移动以及社会领域的竞争日益激烈，我们必须扩大在移动领域地市场份额来保持竞争力。” |
| The company’s future depends on turning that round, said Mr Chao, although the microblog overcame slow user grow to record its first quarterly profit – of $3m – from improved advertising revenue and income from others sources including the sale of data on user behaviour. |
新浪微博的日均用户总量在九月达到五千九百万，于十二月达到六千一百四十万，涨幅为4.2％。 |
| “The competition in mobile and the social space intensified,” said Mr Chao. |
对此新浪表示，数据反应的是其它微博用户数量的下降。 |
| “It is imperative that we increase our market space in mobile in order to stay competitive.” |
在与分析人士长达一小时的通讯中，新浪公司没有提及其准备将微博与其他公司下门户网站拆分的意图。 |
| The number of daily average users grew 4.2 per cent from about 59m in September to 61.4m in December, said Mr Chao. |
然而许多知情人士都证实了新浪准备在纽约上市的消息，目标估值最高达八十亿美元。 |
| A recent nationwide survey by a government-affiliated research group of microblogging in China found a decrease in the number of people on the sites, which Sina said reflected a decline in users of other microblogs. |
但分析人士认为，想要打动投资者，新浪也许前路坎坷。 |
| In an hour-long call with analysts, the company failed to mention that it was seeking to spin off the microblog service from its other online portal site, although multiple people familiar with the situation have confirmed that Sina plans to list the platform in New York, with a valuation target of up to $8bn. |
最大的威胁就在于其竞争对手，腾讯。 |
| But industry analysts suggested the company might have a tough time pitching itself to investors. |
从市值来看，腾讯是中国最大的互联网集团，其最有代表性的应用就是“微信”，一款类似Whatsapp的聊天应用，现集电子商务、电子支付以及游戏于一体。 |
| The biggest threat: Tencent. |
微信的广泛使用正是新浪微博用户危机的原因之一。 |
| The company, China’s largest internet group by market capitalisation, makes the popular app WeChat, which started as a Whatsapp-like chat app but is now branching out into ecommerce, payments and gaming. |
另外一层威胁则来自中国政府。 |
| Its popularity is a factor in Sina Weibo’s struggling user numbers. |
中国网民在微博平台上曝光政府渎职行为，组织反腐示威、痛斥环境污染，如此种种都使得中国政府对微博长期保持警惕。 |
| Another threat comes from Beijing, which has long been wary of netizens’ use of Weibo to vent about government malfeasance or organise protests against corruption or environmental pollution. |
新浪也聘请专员来清除微博帖。 |
| Sina employs staff to erase sensitive posts. |
去年年末，中国政府加大了言论打压力度，逮捕了一位知名网络评论人，并且在审判裁决中言明，若个人在网络上散布谣言或诽谤并且相关发帖被广泛转发，散布者将会因此被起诉。 |
| Late last year, the government stepped up its crackdown on dissent when it arrested a prominent internet commentator and issued legal rulings that individuals could be prosecuted for spreading rumours or defamation if their posts went viral. |
“上市时机确实有点奇怪，”北京咨询公司BDA China的邓肯•克拉克(Duncan Clark)说。 |
| “The timing does seem a little odd,” said Duncan Clark, chairman of Beijing advisory group BDA China. |
据Marbridge Consultancy的技术顾问Mark Natkin所说，能够吸引投资者的一个可能就是与新浪分割后的微博有会成为一个颇具吸引力的收购目标。 |
| One possible attraction for investors, said Mark Natkin of technology advisers Marbridge Consultancy, would be that a spun-out Weibo could be an attractive acquisition target. |
阿里巴巴商团已经持有18%的新浪微博股份，并有权将其升至30%。 |
| Ecommerce group Alibaba already holds 18 per cent of Sina Weibo and has an option to increase that to 30 per cent. |
阿里巴巴自身也在为首次公募做准备，在过去几年有多笔大交易，从而巩固自认地位对抗腾讯，所以也会对新浪手中的用户数据感兴趣。 |
| Alibaba, preparing for its own IPO, has been splashing out on deals in the past year as it shores up its position against Tencent, and Sina’s user data could be attractive. |
纳特金表示：“这最终可能是为了一个结果，就是新浪微博被收购。” |
| “This is partially a play that they’re going to get acquired,” said Mr Natkin. |
将微博与其它门户网站拆分也有利于管理层更为自由地对其平台进行“更大胆的”改造，来适应移动用户行为的改变。 |
| Spinning out Weibo could also give management a freer hand to be “more aggressive” in trying to change the platform as mobile user behaviour changes, said C Ming Zhao, lead analyst with 86Research. |
86Research 的首席分析员C Ming Zhao如是认为。 |
| Sina on Tuesday warned that margins would to come under pressure this year as the group invested in mobile internet. |
新浪在周二警告表示，由于对移动互联网的投资，利润率将会面临压力。 |
| For full-year 2013 net revenue was up 26 per cent to $665m, with net income at $45.1m, up from $31.7m in 2012. |
新浪2013全年净收入达到六亿六千五百万美元，上涨26%，其中收益净额从2012年的三千一百七十万美元增长到今年四千五百一十万美元。 |
