Translate the article into English orally. Asos Closes China Business under Weight of Alibaba Competition



Asos Closes China Business under Weight of Alibaba Competition

Asos Plc has pulled the plug on its Chinese venture after failing to lure customers away from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

The British online fashion retailer will close its Chinese distribution center, Shanghai office and local website after failing to turn a profit since beginning operations in the country in 2013, the company said in a statement Thursday. The retreat will involve a charge of as much as 10 million pounds ($14 million).

“We’ve just not made the headway that we had hoped for,” Chief Executive Officer Nick Beighton said in a phone interview. “The Chinese market is unlike any other we operate in. Getting eyeballs on our products has proved very difficult.

Asos isn’t the only online fashion retailer to find the going tough in the world’s second-largest economy, where Alibaba dominates the e-commerce market with a 75 percent share. Meilishuo.com, a fashion retailer backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd., is merging with rival Mogujie.com to gain scale. China’s e-commerce business is projected to expand 20 percent to 3.6 trillion yuan ($557 billion) next year, according to Shanghai-based Internet consultant IResearch.

Asos’s move reflects “better allocation of capital towards better established opportunities,” Simon Bowler, an analyst at Exane BNP Paribas, said by e-mail. “The speed at which new management have made this decision should also be welcomed.”

In its latest financial year, Asos incurred a loss of 5.2 million pounds related to its Chinese operations. The company now plans to focus investment into its core territories of the U.K., Europe and the U.S.

Bloomberg, April 7th, 2016

USEFUL TERMS AND EXPRESSIONS

  • topulltheplug - поставить крест;отказаться
  • to lure away – сманить, переманить
  • tomaketheheadway –добиться прогресса;двигаться вперед
  • to turn a profit – приноситьприбыль
  • to get eyeballs – привлечь внимание
  • to incur a loss – понестиубытки

 

TEXT 4

Translate the article into English orally.

IPhone SE sales may be cannibalizing others

SAN FRANCISCO- When Apple decided to go small – in size and price – with the iPhone SE, it was a grab for first-time buyers in markets such as China and India.

The strategy, at first blush, appears to have paid off big: iPhone SE sales could hit 30 million units in their initial year of availability, compared with a forecast of 10 million to 20 million, according to a report Monday from market researcher Nomura, one of the first on the 4-inch, $399 phone since it debuted March 31.

But the success of theSE may be at the expense of iPhone 6S.

“The SE strength and overall demand weakness imply the SE is stealing 6S demand in developed markets," Nomura analyst Jeffrey Kvaal said in the report, based on research of suppliers. "We believe the SE is reaching its intended market, first-time buyers in China."

Roughly half of iPhone SE sales are from the U.S. and China, the report said, which bodes well for Apple's overseas strategy.

The report underscores general softness in the smartphone market and the necessity to focus on the low end to corral nascent users, said Crawford Del Prete, chief research officer at market researcher IDC.

Worldwide smartphone unit shipments slipped 3%, to 335 million, in the first three months of 2016, the first such year-over-year decline, according to Strategy Analytics, which tracks smartphone sales.

"There is too much competition in what is becoming a churn market. We have a (market) share war in the U.S." - Del Prete said.

The bigger question is whether iPhone 7 – Apple's latest entry in the market, expected in September – will reverse the first sales decline in iPhone's 10-year history.Sales plunged16% to 51.2 million in the recently completed fiscal second quarter.

The USA TODAY, May 24th, 2016

 

USEFUL TERMS AND EXPRESSIONS

· tocannibalize – резко снижать объем продаж одного товара (вплоть до вытеснения с рынка) в результате представления на рынок другого аналогичного продукта

· a grab - захват

· to pay off – окупиться

· atfirstblush – на первый взгляд;поначалу;по первому впечатлению

· at the expense of – зачей-тосчет

· intended market – целевойрыноксбыта

· tobodewell/ill – служить плохим/хорошим предзнаменованием;сулить плохое/хорошее

· low-end of the market – низкоценовойсегментрынка

· nascent – появляющийся, нарождающийся

· churn – отток клиентов

TEXT 5


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