????極具個(gè)人魅力的eBay首席執(zhí)行官梅格?惠特曼于2008年離開該公司,。eBay隨后開始陷入麻煩，這家電子商務(wù)巨頭的業(yè)務(wù)開始下滑,。eBay的賣家仍然依賴該網(wǎng)站,，但他們開始厭倦該公司不斷提高收費(fèi)的做法。他們大聲甚至是犀利的表達(dá)自己的不滿,。當(dāng)該公司的財(cái)務(wù)業(yè)績(jī)開始受到影響（這在一定程度上是因?yàn)樵摴居?jì)劃不周,，斥資25億美元收購(gòu)Skype），投資者們也開始感到厭煩,。eBay股價(jià)暴跌,，在2009年降至約10美元的低點(diǎn)。

????但后來情況大變,。到2009年年底,，eBay的收入從上年的85億美元增至87億美元。而且盡管麻煩纏身,，該公司仍然獲得24億美元的利潤(rùn),。2011年，eBay大獲成功,，收入達(dá)到117億美元,，而利潤(rùn)更是高達(dá)32億美元，另華爾街震驚不已,。eBay的股價(jià)也出現(xiàn)回升,，從年初至今已大漲51％，達(dá)到45.85美元,。去年,，eBay的股價(jià)上漲了56％,。eBay似乎打破了互聯(lián)網(wǎng)公司的宿命,。

????那么，究竟發(fā)生了什么,？

????答案是iPhone,。巴克萊資本（Barclays Capital）分析師安東尼?迪克萊蒙特在致投資者的最新報(bào)告中寫道：“eBay搭上了移動(dòng)互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的順風(fēng)車。這股風(fēng)潮為eBay帶來了源源不斷的客流，而其價(jià)格和利潤(rùn)卻沒有損失（對(duì)于在線廣告則是災(zāi)難）,?！贝_實(shí)如此，根據(jù)尼爾森（Nielsen）的調(diào)查數(shù)據(jù),，整個(gè)6月份,，47%的美國(guó)智能手機(jī)用戶（約4,500萬）使用了手機(jī)購(gòu)物程序。其中,，1,300萬獨(dú)立用戶訪問了eBay以購(gòu)買商品,，亞馬遜（Amazon）緊隨其后，吸引到了1,200萬獨(dú)立用戶,。

????尼爾森數(shù)據(jù)發(fā)布前一個(gè)月,，eBay曾向投資者報(bào)告稱，公司在移動(dòng)領(lǐng)域的投資將獲得豐厚的回報(bào),。eBay總裁兼首席執(zhí)行官約翰?多納霍在上月的營(yíng)收會(huì)議上表示：“我們預(yù)計(jì)eBay和貝寶（PayPal）在2012年的移動(dòng)交易量將分別創(chuàng)下100億美元新高,，是2011年的兩倍以上。移動(dòng)交易和支付發(fā)展極為驚人,，而這一切在幾年前甚至還不存在,。”

????貝寶發(fā)展喜人,。eBay表示貝寶的活躍注冊(cè)賬號(hào)數(shù)在上月已達(dá)1.132億,，比去年增加了13%。上季度,，貝寶營(yíng)收增長(zhǎng)了26%,，達(dá)到14億美元，幾乎可以媲美eBay的電子商務(wù)業(yè)務(wù),，后者上季度貢獻(xiàn)了16億美元的營(yíng)收,。

????當(dāng)然，eBay曾經(jīng)是世界頂尖的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)公司,。競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手們已經(jīng)把目光瞄準(zhǔn)了eBay的核心業(yè)務(wù),。說到消費(fèi)購(gòu)物和移動(dòng)領(lǐng)域，亞馬遜自然是eBay最大的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手,。在移動(dòng)電子商務(wù)應(yīng)用程序使用量上,，亞馬遜緊隨eBay，排名第二,，用戶們正在瘋狂使用這家電子商務(wù)巨頭的移動(dòng)應(yīng)用,。更重要的是，亞馬遜市場(chǎng)允許商家們直接向消費(fèi)者銷售自己產(chǎn)品,。（這些產(chǎn)品有時(shí)是全新的,，有些則是二手貨,。）

????亞馬遜和eBay都在爭(zhēng)奪同樣的用戶。不過亞馬遜的資本更為雄厚,。該公司去年?duì)I收480億美元,，利潤(rùn)6.31億美元。換句話說,，亞馬遜非常龐大,。迄今為止，還沒有哪家獨(dú)立公司能在營(yíng)收或知名度上趕上亞馬遜,。

????貝寶則是eBay的核心資產(chǎn),。不過，許多公司正在試圖挑戰(zhàn)貝寶,，成為支付市場(chǎng)的主流廠商,。例如，谷歌（Google）推出了Checkout——類似貝寶的在線支付平臺(tái),。該公司試圖引入近場(chǎng)通信技術(shù),，將Checkout與谷歌錢包相結(jié)合，打造新的移動(dòng)支付方案,。

????盡管如此,，分析人士不一定認(rèn)為eBay將在未來數(shù)月和數(shù)年遭遇困境。投資公司Baird分析師科林?塞巴斯蒂安上月將eBay目標(biāo)股價(jià)從每股45美元提高至47美元,，塞巴斯蒂安在告知投資者該變動(dòng)的報(bào)告中寫道,，eBay“在移動(dòng)商務(wù)和支付領(lǐng)域仍屬于早期領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者，其他有些公司根本尚未站穩(wěn)腳跟,?！痹谌退沟侔仓埃魉固寡芯抗痉治鰩熆逅?克金格也盛贊eBay,，并在上月的一份研究報(bào)告中寫道,，貝寶“擁有強(qiáng)有力的、難以挑戰(zhàn)的在線支付專營(yíng)權(quán)”,。

????譯者：項(xiàng)航

????The trouble began with the departure of a charismatic chief. After CEO Meg Whitman stepped down from her post at eBay in 2008, the online commerce giant's business seemed to sour. eBay sellers, while still reliant upon the site, grew tired of the company's penchant for raising fees. They became vocal, even trenchant, in their discontent. When the company's financial performance started to suffer, in part because of an ill-conceived, $2.5 billion acquisition of Skype, investors grew weary. The company's shares plummeted, hitting a low of about $10 in 2009.

????How things have changed. By the end of that year, eBay (EBAY) was able to grow revenue to $8.7 billion, up from $8.5 billion in the previous year. And despite its troubles, it still delivered a tidy $2.4 billion profit. In 2011, eBay shocked Wall Street with an exceedingly successful year, generating $11.7 billion in income and a $3.2 billion profit. eBay's stock has swung back, as well, jumping 51% since the beginning of the year to $45.85. In the last year, eBay shares are up 56%. eBay seems to have beat the Internet curse.

????So, what happened?

????Blame it on the iPhone. "Mobile is a tailwind for eBay, as the medium is allowing for incremental volume with no pricing or margin degradation (which plagues online ads)," Barclays Capital (BCS) analyst Anthony DiClemente wrote recently in a research note to investors. Indeed. During June, 47% of all U.S. smartphone owners -- about 45 million people – used a shopping application on their handset, according to Nielsen. Out of those, 13 million unique users accessed eBay to buy products. Amazon (AMZN), which attracted 12 million unique users, came in second place.

????That news comes just a month after eBay reported to investors that its mobile efforts are paying off in a big way. "We now expect eBay and PayPal mobile to each transact $10 billion in volume in 2012 -- that's more than double 2011, a staggering surge in mobile shopping and payments on devices that did not exist just a few years ago," eBay president and CEO John Donahoe said last month in an earnings statement.

????PayPal is surging. eBay reported last month that the service has 113.2 million active registered accounts, representing a 13% gain over the prior year. PayPal revenue was up 26% to $1.4 billion last quarter, putting it within striking distance of besting eBay's e-commerce business, which tallied $1.6 billion in revenue during the period.

????Of course, eBay has been on top of the Web world before. And its competitors have their sights set on its core businesses. When it comes to consumer purchases and the mobile world, Amazon is easily eBay's largest competitor. And Amazon is hot on eBay's heels for mobile e-commerce app usage; shoppers actively use the e-retail giant's mobile application. What's more, the Amazon Marketplace allows vendors to sell their products directly to consumers. (Sometimes, those products are brand new, sometimes used.)

????Amazon and eBay are gunning for the same consumer dollars. And Amazon has plenty of resources. The company last year generated a $631 million profit on $48 billion in revenue. In other words, Amazon is huge. And so far, not a single company has come close to matching it in sales or popularity.

????PayPal, meanwhile, is vital to eBay's business. But a slew of companies have designs on challenging it -- and becoming major players in the payments market. Google (GOOG), for example, already has Checkout, an online PayPal competitor, and is trying to jump on the near-field-communication trend with Google Wallet, a mobile-payment solution.

????Still, analysts don't necessarily believe eBay will suffer through tough times in the coming months and years. Baird analyst Colin Sebastian, who raised his eBay price target from $45 to $47 last month, wrote in a note to investors announcing the change that the company "remains an early leader in mobile commerce and payments, while some other companies struggle to gain a foothold." Sebastian's comments followed similarly glowing remarks by Bernstein Research analyst Carlos Kirjner, who wrote in a research note last month that PayPal "has a strong and hard-to-challenge online payments franchise."