互聯(lián)網正在促成以服務取代產品

互聯(lián)網正在促成以服務取代產品，Peloton是最新一例

AS ANYONE IN a CrossFit class or Bikram-yoga studio will tell you, fitness is full of fads. Few make it to the stockmarket. But on August 27th Peloton, an American firm founded in 2012, announced it had filed paperwork for an initial public offering. Peloton describes itself as a “technology fitness media design software retail product apparel experience logistics” company. Its investors reckon it could be worth $4bn.

每個參加過混合健身班(CrossFit)或比克拉姆瑜伽(Bikram-yoga)工作室的人都會跟你說，健身全都是一時狂熱。這一行幾乎沒有公司能進入股市。但8月27日，成立于2012年的美國公司Peloton宣布已遞交了首次公開募股的文件。Peloton把自己描述為一家“科技健身媒體設計軟件零售產品服飾體驗物流”公司。其投資者估計其市值可能達40億美元。

Stripped of the aspirational jargon, the firm is in the business of selling high-tech (and high-priced) home exercise bikes. Each bike, which costs $2,245, comes with a touchscreen, a version of Google’s Android operating system and an internet connection. For a monthly fee, users can tune into streamed exercise sessions, either live or pre-recorded, complete with leaderboards and statistics. The effect is a mix of a studio spinning class and a YouTube live stream, as perky instructors give shout-outs to individual users who are puffing away in their living rooms hundreds of miles away. For those who dislike cycling, a $4,295 treadmill is also available.

撇去這一串野心畢露的術語，該公司的業(yè)務是銷售高科技(并且是高價)的家用健身單車。每輛單車售價2245美元，配有觸摸屏、谷歌的安卓操作系統(tǒng)，可連接互聯(lián)網。支付一筆月費后，用戶可以觀看直播或錄制的流媒體健身課程，查看排行榜和統(tǒng)計數據。它就像是健身房的動感單車課程和YouTube直播的混合體，生龍活虎的教練們朝著數百英里外在自家客廳里氣喘吁吁的用戶們高呼鼓勁。不喜歡騎自行車的人可以買一臺4295美元的跑步機。

Like many of the current crop of tech “unicorns”—private companies with a valuation of $1bn or more—Peloton does not do anything so unfashionable as making money. It lost $196m in the 12 months to June, up from $48m the year before, as it threw money at attracting new customers. But its efforts seem to be working: it has 511,000 subscribers, more than double the number last year. Revenue has doubled too, reaching $915m in 2019 (see chart). It is popular among trendsetters. David Beckham, an ex-footballer, is a fan, as is Barack Obama, an ex-president. That aspirational glow allows the firm to get away with gross margins on hardware of 43%, higher even than Apple’s famously lucrative gadgets. Despite its high prices (or perhaps because of them) it also boasts enviable customer loyalty.

和很多新一代科技獨角獸(估值在10億美元或以上的私營企業(yè))一樣，Peloton不做任何不夠時髦的事情，比如賺錢。為吸引新客戶，它大把砸錢，以致在截至今年6月的12個月里虧損了1.96億美元，而上年同期為4800萬美元。不過它的努力似乎起效了：它的訂戶數已達51.1萬，是去年的兩倍多。收入也翻了一番，今年達到9.15億美元(見圖表)。它在潮流開創(chuàng)者中很受歡迎。前足球運動員貝克漢姆和前美國總統(tǒng)奧巴馬都是它的粉絲。這種號召力光環(huán)讓它的硬件的毛利率達到43%，甚至比蘋果公司那些以高利潤聞名的產品還要高。盡管很貴(或許正因如此)，它的客戶忠誠度仍高得令人艷羨。

Exercise-bike makers used to be in the manufacturing business. But Peloton makes about 20% of revenue from subscriptions, and the share is rising. Margins here are mediocre but should improve as content-production costs are spread over more users. The shift illustrates a broader trend: thanks to the internet, industries that used to be about products are increasingly about services, too. This lets firms replace unpredictable sales with a steady stream of subscription revenue. If they can pull it off.

運動單車制造商過去一直屬于制造業(yè)。但Peloton約20%的收入來自訂閱，而且這一比例還在上升。這部分業(yè)務的利潤率很尋常，但隨著內容生產成本被分攤到更多用戶身上，應該會進一步提升。這種轉變體現(xiàn)了一個更廣泛的趨勢：由于互聯(lián)網的發(fā)展，過去以產品為主的行業(yè)也越來越多地轉向以服務為主。這可以讓公司用穩(wěn)定的訂閱收入取代難以預測的銷售收入——如果它們能完成這種轉變的話。