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安装谷歌操作系统的智能手机正在击败iPhone?

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For Google Inc., Europe's economic turmoil has had a silver lining: Smartphones that use the Internet giant's software are crushing the iPhone in countries hard hit by the continent's debt crisis.


对于谷歌公司(Google Inc.)而言，欧洲的经济动荡带来了一线希望：在那些深受欧债危机冲击的国家，安装谷歌操作系统的智能手机正在击败iPhone。



Last year, despite Apple Inc.'s high-profile launch of the new iPhone 4S, only 5% of the smartphones sold in Greece and 9% of those sold in Portugal were iPhones, according to research firm IDC. Most of the rest were phones running Google's Android operating system.


去年，尽管苹果公司高调推出了新机iPhone 4S，但研究机构国际数据公司(IDC)透露，在希腊售出的智能手机中，iPhone仅占5%，在葡萄牙的占比只有9%。剩下的手机中，大多数安装的是谷歌的安卓(Android)操作系统。



The results point to a rare weak spot for Apple -- its heavy reliance on subsidies from wireless carriers to make its iPhones affordable to a wider range of consumers. The practice has proved to be a big advantage for Apple, which posted a 73% jump in revenue in its latest quarter, at the expense of carriers such as Sprint Nextel Corp., which started carrying the iPhone last fall but doesn't expect to make a profit on the device until 2015.


上述结果指出了苹果公司少有的一个弱点：苹果过分依赖无线运营商的购机补贴才能让更多消费者买得起iPhone。这一做法经证明对苹果十分有利：该公司公布最新财季收入上升了73%。但运营商却为此付出了代价：以美国运营商Sprint Nextel Corp.为例，该公司去年秋季推出iPhone，但预计要到2015年才能从iPhone上盈利。



In countries like the U.S. and the U.K., carrier subsidies helped the iPhone win more than 20% of the smartphone market last year. But its performance in parts of southern Europe where most consumers don't sign contracts and have to pay full freight for phones suggests Apple's position could suffer if carriers tire of underwriting most of the cost of the devices, as some are in countries such as Denmark and Spain.


在美国和英国等国家，运营商补贴政策去年帮助iPhone在智能手机市场赢得了超过20%的份额。但iPhone在部分南欧国家的市场表现说明，如果运营商不愿继续补贴用户的大部分购机成本(丹麦和西班牙等国的部分运营商就是这样)，那么苹果的市场地位可能会动摇。在部分南欧国家，大多数用户并没有和运营商签订合约，他们必须以全价购买手机。



'Smartphone penetration and adoption is being helped by the entry of lower-price devices, which basically are Android devices,' said Carlos Alberto Silva, a spokesman for Portuguese carrier Optimus.


葡萄牙运营商Optimus的发言人席尔瓦(Carlos Alberto Silva)说，低价设备（基本上都是安卓设备）进入市场有助于智能手机的普及和使用。



Android phones that cost less than $200 without a contract are widely available in Europe, helping Google undercut the iPhone. In Portugal, at wireless carrier Vodafone Group PLC, the cheapest Apple phone -- an eight-gigabyte version of the older-model iPhone 4 -- sells for $680, according to the carrier's website. Phones running Android can be had for as little as $106, and even Samsung Electronics Co.'s high-end Galaxy S II is cheaper than the cheapest iPhone.


在欧洲，价格不到200美元且不带消费合约的安卓手机俯拾皆是，这帮助谷歌以低价与苹果竞争。在葡萄牙，无线运营商沃达丰空中通讯公司(Vodafone Group PLC)的网站信息显示，该公司提供的最便宜的苹果手机(8G容量的iPhone 4)售价680美元。而安卓手机最低只要106美元，甚至就连三星电子(Samsung Electronics Co.)的高端手机Galaxy S II的售价也比最便宜的iPhone要低。



At Greece's largest wireless carrier, Cosmote Mobile Telecommunications SA, the most popular smartphone sold last year was Samsung's Galaxy Mini, said Dimitris Koutsonas, head of mobile data and services. The price: $188 without a contract. 'In this economic situation, we had to push the low-end smartphone,' Mr. Koutsonas said.


希腊国内最大的无线运营商Cosmote Mobile Telecommunications SA移动数据和服务部门负责人寇索纳斯(Dimitris Koutsonas)说，去年最受欢迎的智能手机是三星的Galaxy Mini，其不带合约的裸机价格为188美元。寇索纳斯说，在这种经济形势下，我们不得不推出低端智能手机。



'Our competitors are much more dependent on such subsidies,' said John Lagerling, Google's director of Android partnerships. 'If you have very expensive devices as the only ones available to access your ecosystem, then that can come with a pretty severe hangover in the long run.'


谷歌安卓合作伙伴关系负责人拉杰林(John Lagerling)说，我们的竞争对手更依赖购机补贴政策。如果你的商业生态系统中只有非常昂贵的手机，那么从长期看这可能产生相当严重的后遗症。



In the U.S., carriers pay Apple an estimated $400 every time a customer buys an iPhone with a two-year contract, analysts say. Sprint has acknowledged that iPhone subsidies run 40% higher than for other smartphones on average. The goal is to make it easy to buy the phone then make the money back and a profit over time on service contracts. Contract-free 'prepaid' carriers, on the other hand, leave consumers to pay the full price of a phone.


分析师说，在美国，用户每购买一部带两年消费合约的iPhone，运营商必须向苹果支付大约400美元。Sprint承认，iPhone的补贴成本平均比其它智能手机的补贴成本高40%。运营商的目标是降低用户的购机门槛，日后通过服务合约赚回成本并实现利润。另一方面，不带合约的"预付费"业务运营商则让消费者支付全价购买手机。



Wall Street has grilled Apple on its strategy for prepaid carriers, even as the company sold a record 37 million iPhones in its most recent quarter, more than double the year-earlier tally. The company has kept a nearly three-year-old model, the iPhone 3GS, on the market to appeal to budget-minded buyers. But the 3GS still sells for $535 without a contract at Greece's Cosmote.


苹果最近财季卖出了创纪录的3,700万部iPhone，同比增长超过一倍，而同时华尔街一直在拷问苹果为预付费运营商制定的战略。苹果一直在市场上保留着上市近三年的老机型iPhone 3GS，为的是吸引控制购机预算的消费者。但希腊运营商Cosmote提供的不带合约的3GS的售价仍要535美元。



Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook told analysts in January that it 'was too early to tell' how the lower-priced versions would perform in the prepaid market over time but that the company was 'thrilled' with iPhones sales as a whole.


苹果公司首席执行长库克(Tim Cook)今年1月告诉记者，现在预测低价iPhone未来在预付费市场的表现还为时尚早，但苹果公司对iPhone的整体销售情况感到"兴奋"。



At an investorconference this month, Mr. Cook added that emerging markets, which often use the prepaid model, are 'critical' for the company, but that each country is different and some may evolve over time. Apple, he said, had persuaded China Unicom to try a contract and subsidies approach in addition to its prepaid one, and that it had performed well.


库克在本月的一个投资者会议上说，对于苹果来说，通常使用预付费模式的新兴市场非常重要，但每一个新兴市场国家不尽相同，随着时间的推移，一些国家可能也会改变。库克说，苹果此前说服中国联通(China Unicom)在现有的预付费模式之外采用一种新的合约补贴计划，结果这一计划表现良好。



The debate over device subsidies is part of a tug of war between mobile operators, Internet companies and phone makers seeking control and profits in the wireless industry. All three are gathering in Barcelona this week for an annual industry conference.


有关设备补贴的争论只是试图控制无线产业并从中获利的移动运营商、互联网公司及手机制造商三方间拉锯战的组成部分。这三方本周将齐聚巴塞罗那，参加一年一度的行业会议。



Carriers around the world are having second thoughts about subsidizing phones, presenting a risk for all phone makers -- not just Apple. That became clear in Denmark last year after several leading wireless carriers stopped subsidizing phones and lowered their monthly rates to keep up with competitors. 'We saw that the customers valued lower prices on calling plans, and simpler calling plans, higher than the subsidy on the phone,' said Jon Erik Haug, CEO of the Denmark unit of Oslo-based wireless operator Telenor ASA.


全球运营商都在反思购机补贴政策，这给包括苹果在内的所有手机厂商构成了风险。去年，这一趋势在丹麦日渐明显：丹麦国内好几家大型运营商不再补贴用户的购机成本，并降低月使用费以赶上竞争对手。总部设在奥斯陆的无线运营商Telenor ASA丹麦分部的首席执行长豪格(Jon Erik Haug)说，我们发现，相对于购机补贴政策，用户更重视降低通话套餐的费用，他们希望我们推出更为简单的套餐。



In Spain, Telefonica SA is also having doubts. 'We can't keep subsidies at these levels,' Jose Miguel Gilperez, CEO of Telefonica Spain, recently told Spanish newspaper El Pais. 'When you buy a TV or any other consumer good, you pay for it. It is healthier that users pay for their devices and operators invest in networks and services.'


在西班牙，运营商Telefonica SA也开始质疑购机补贴政策。该公司首席执行长吉尔佩雷斯(Jose Miguel Gilperez) 日前接受西班牙《国家报》(El Pais)采访时说，我们不能一直将补贴保持在这样的水平。当你购买电视机或其它消费品时你会全额支付价款。在我们看来，用户购买手机而运营商投资网络和服务的做法更为健康。



Anton Troianovski


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