挑战迪士尼与华纳兄弟：亚马逊与出版界的最新战役
JP Mangalindan | 2014-08-22 16:45
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[译文]
Where pricing is concerned, there’s Amazon, and then there’s everyone else.
From Stephen King to Disney, Warner Brothers to Bonnier publishing, the e-commerce giant has waged battle against countless parties this year, all in an attempt—at least, that’s how it appears—to have the final word on low prices.
Below, a tally of Amazon’s recent brouhahas.
只要涉及定价问题，就一定有亚马逊（Amazon），和它搅起的满城风雨。
这家电子商务巨头今年已经向无数人发起挑战，从史蒂夫•金（Stephen King）到迪士尼（Disney），从华纳兄弟（Warner Brothers）到邦尼出版集团（Bonnier），其目的只有一个，就是掌控低价的最终话语权。
以下就是亚马逊最近的斗争史。
图片来源：阿歇特
Amazon vs. Hachette
This spring, Amazon took an aggressive stance toward Hachette, the fourth largest book publisher in the U.S., by delaying orders and restocking of e-books it sold on its site. Why? To get the upper-hand in negotiations over e-book pricing. (Amazon has said it wants Hachette titles to sell for no more than $9.99. Hachette, among other publishers, thinks that price will overly reduce profit margins.)
Amazon is "currently buying less [print] inventory and 'safety stock' on titles … than we ordinarily do, and are no longer taking pre-orders on titles whose publication dates are in the future," it explained in a statement posted to an online forum in May. But the company went beyond merely cutting back its inventory on Hachette titles, going so far as to remove the ability to pre-order books like Brad Stone’s paperback edition of The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon and J.K. Rowling’s novel The Silkworm.
Authors were understandably livid. “We have made Amazon many millions of dollars and over the years have contributed so much, free of charge, to the company by way of cooperation, joint promotions, reviews and blogs,” they wrote in a full-page New York Times print advertisement in August paid for by Authors United, a group representing 900 disgruntled writers including household names like John Grisham and Nora Roberts. “This is no way to treat a business partner. Nor is it the right way to treat your friends."
Status of negotiations: Ongoing
亚马逊对阵阿歇特
今年春季，亚马逊通过推迟订单以及重新补充网站所售电子图书的库存，对美国第四大图书出版商阿歇特（Hachette）发起了攻势。此举用意何在？就是为了在电子图书定价的谈判中占据上风。（亚马逊曾表示，希望阿歇特的图书售价不要超过9.99美元。而阿歇特和其他出版商则认为，这样的定价水平将过分压低他们的利润率。）
亚马逊“目前购入的各类书目的（纸质）库存和‘安全库存’……均低于我们的通常购入量，并且不再向出版商预订那些尚未到发行日的书目，”5月时，在一个网络论坛的帖子里，有人如此解释道。但是亚马逊所做的不仅仅是降低了阿歇特出版书目的库存，更是直接取消了一些图书的预订，如布拉德•斯通（Brad Stone）所著《万物商店：杰夫•贝索斯与亚马逊时代》（The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon）的平装本，以及J.K.罗琳（J.K. Rowling）的小说《蚕》（The Silkworm）。
自然，这引起了一些作者的强烈不满。“我们已经让亚马逊赚了数百万美元，并且多年以来一直通过合作、联合推广、评论和博客，无偿地为亚马逊做出了巨大的贡献。”900名愤怒的作者组成了“作者联盟”，其中不乏一些家喻户晓的名字，譬如约翰•格里森姆（John Grisham）和诺拉•罗伯茨（Nora Roberts），该联盟于8月时在《纽约时报》（New York Times）上购买了一整版的印刷广告，如此写道，“如此对待商业伙伴让人匪夷所思。如此对待自己的朋友更令人难以接受。”
谈判状态：进行中
Amazon vs. Bonnier
Hachette isn’t the only book publisher to feel Amazon’s wrath. This week, more than 1,000 writers under the Sweden-based Bonnier Group (including noted Noble Prize winner Elfriede Jelinek) signed an open letter to Amazon accusing the company of manipulating its online recommendation lists, lying about the availability of books and delaying the shipment of customers’ orders, all as a way to negotiate bigger discounts with the Sweden-based publisher.
“Amazon’s customers have, until now, had the impression that these lists are not manipulated and they could trust Amazon,” reads the letter. “Apparently that is not the case.”
The battle began in May when the authors first noticed delays in the availability of their works, prompting Bonnier to reveal that it was in the midst of negotiations with Amazon.
Status of negotiations: Ongoing
亚马逊对阵邦尼集团
阿歇特并不是唯一一家被亚马逊惹怒的图书出版公司。本周，瑞典传媒公司邦尼集团（Bonnier Group）旗下的1,000余名作者（其中还有著名的诺贝尔文学奖得主艾尔弗雷德•耶利内克
“目前为止，亚马逊的客户依然觉得这些推荐列表并没有受到人为操纵，也觉得可以信任亚马逊，”公开信中写道，“不过实情显然不是这样的。”
这场明争暗斗开始于今年5月，当时这些作者们头一次注意到他们的作品被亚马逊推迟销售，这才促使邦尼集团对外披露正在与亚马逊进行谈判的事情。
谈判状态：进行中
图片来源：迪士尼
Amazon vs. Disney
Fans of Maleficent, the summer film starring Angelina Jolie, must look elsewhere to pre-order it on DVD, thanks to a spat between Amazon and the Walt Disney Co. over—you guessed it —pricing.
Fallout from the companies' hard-nosed negotiations also extends to other popular titles, including big-budget superhero flicks Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy. (Conveniently, pre-orders for digital versions of the same films remain available via Amazon’s instant video service.)
“Amazon is looking to get a price break—we think—from all of the studios,” Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter told Bloomberg TV in an interview earlier this August. “Disney is not budging, and Amazon is fighting back by saying, ‘Fine, your new movies aren’t going to show up as pre-orders on our site.’"
Status of negotiations: Ongoing
亚马逊对阵迪士尼
安吉丽娜•朱莉主演的大片《沉睡魔咒》（Maleficent）在暑期热映，然而影迷们不得不寻找其他途径预购这部影片的DVD，原因同样也是因为亚马逊与迪斯尼公司间的纷争——你猜得没错，还是定价问题。
这场谈判硬仗的不良影响还波及到了其他卖座大片，像是大制作的超级英雄大片《美国队长2：冬日战士》（Captain America: The Winter Soldier）以及《银河护卫队》（Guardians of the Galaxy）。（好在，这些影片的电子版仍可通过亚马逊的即时视频服务进行预订。）
“我们猜，亚马逊是希望从所有的影视工作室获得价格折扣，”韦德布什证券（Wedbush Securities）分析师迈克尔•帕切在8月初接受彭博财经（Bloomberg TV）的采访时分析道，“迪士尼不肯让步，亚马逊就回击说，‘行，那你们的新电影就别想在我们网站上接受预订了。’”
谈判状态：进行中
图片来源：华纳兄弟
Amazon vs. Warner Brothers
From mid-May to late June this year, Amazon removed the ability for customers to pre-order DVD versions of Warner Bros. titles such as The Lego Movie and 300: Rise of an Empire while the two companies hashed out a new distribution deal. The companies never formally announced a resolution—it's a private matter, they say—but reports on June 24 indicated that they were close enough that customers could place pre-orders once again.
Shoppers noticed the interruption. “I'm definitely going elsewhere for this,” wrote an irked Amazon.com user by the name of John A. “I guess I can thank Amazon for steering me back towards brick and mortar stores—I've had mixed feelings about their demise.”
Status of negotiations: Resolved
亚马逊对阵华纳兄弟
今年5月中旬到6月下旬期间，亚马逊取消了客户预订华纳兄弟（Warner Bros）出品的电影DVD渠道，例如《乐高大电影》（The Lego Movie）和《300勇士：帝国崛起》（300: Rise of an Empire），但两家公司随即达成了新的经销协议。虽然他们从未正式宣布解决方案——公司的宣传口径称此为私密事件——但6月24日的报道表明，双方已经基本达成协议，客户又可以开始预订了。
有顾客留意到了此次预订服务的中断。“我肯定会去别的地方买，”一位署名John A的亚马逊用户生气地写道，“我想我该感谢亚马逊让我回到了传统的实体店——对于传统书店的消亡，我心里本来就五味陈杂。”
谈判状态：已解决（财富中文网）
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