【经济学人】腾讯与苹果的明争暗斗丨2017.05.18丨总第916期

IN MOST of the world, the success of Apple’s “walled garden” of proprietary software has two elements. First, its attractive services: users tend to be addicted to its iTunes music shop and iBooks store. Second, the complexities involved in switching from an iPhone to another device without losing music files or having to re-download apps（读者试译）.

在世界的大多数国家中，苹果公司专有软件的封闭平台的成功有两个因素。首先是苹果软件诱人的服务，用户一般会沉迷于它的iTunes 音乐商店和iBooks 商店。 （期待您的翻译，明天将会有针对这句话的长难句解析哟~）

• takes on ： v.t 较量

• Proprietary  software： 专有软件

Neither factor works as well in China. There, many of Apple’s services have not taken off. The American giant missed the boat on music sales in the country, reckons Matthew Brennan of China Channel, a technology consultancy. Its sales of books are blocked by the government.

不过这两点在中国却不起作用，苹果公司的许多服务也并没有成功。中国频道的技术顾问Matthew Brennan 认为，苹果公司错失了在中国销售音乐的机会，政府也阻止苹果出售书籍。

In addition, few would disagree that its messaging service is a flop and that Apple Pay, its mobile-payment offering, is irrelevant—its market share on the mainland is only 1%. A “genius” employee at an Apple store in Shanghai admits sheepishly that “iCloud doesn’t work very well in China.”

另外，几乎所有人认为苹果的短信服务是彻底失败的，也认为苹果的移动支付应用也是没有必要的，苹果支付在大陆所占的市场份额仅1%。上海一家苹果商店里的一位销售“天才吧”的工作人员含羞地承认，苹果云服务在中国运行的不是很好。

• flop ： 彻底失败

• mobile-payment  ： 移动支付

And switching is a doddle in China, observes Ben Thompson of Stratechery, an industry newsletter . Nearly everyone uses WeChat, an app made by Tencent, one of China’s three big internet giants, for everything from social media to payments. Through WeChat it is easy to transfer photos, messages, contacts and payments history maintained on that app from one device to another.

行业资讯服务机构Stratechery的Ben Thompson表示，在中国，换部手机是一件非常容易的事。从社会媒体到支付等一切事情，每个人都是通过腾讯（中国三大互联网巨头之一）推出的微信来完成。在微信上，从一个手机向另一个手机传输照片、短信、联系人以及消费历史也是很简单的。

• doddle :  n.轻而易举的事

• an industry newsletter : 产业时事通讯
  

No wonder that Apple’s retention rate among iPhone users, which tops 80% in America and Britain, is only 50% in China. That does not bode well for a key market. Apple’s revenues in greater China have nearly doubled since 2013, to $48.5bn in 2016, thanks in part to its mainland app store. App Annie, a research firm, reckons it is the world’s biggest Apple app store, as measured by revenue. But Apple’s results for the first quarter of the year showed total sales falling by some 14% in greater China compared with a year ago, the fifth consecutive quarter of decline. Canalys, a market-research firm, estimates that shipments of iPhones on the mainland plunged by a quarter in the first quarter.

难怪，在苹果手机用户中，在美国和英国持有率有80%的苹果公司的软件在中国仅有50%的持有率。在这一关键市场中，这并不是一个好兆头。2013年以来，苹果公司在中国的收益几乎翻了一番，2016年，达到485亿美元。在某种程度上，这得益于大陆的应用商店。从收益上来说，Annie（一家研究型软件公司）认为大陆得苹果应用商店是全球最大的。在今年的第一季度，苹果在中国的业绩与去年相比较下降了14%，销售额连续五个季度下降。一家市场研究公司Canalys估计，苹果在大陆的出货量会在第一季度减少四分之一。

• retention:  保留

• consecutive  :连续的

• plung: 骤降

Hostilities have now broken out with Tencent. The two had co-existed happily: since richer Chinese prefer iPhones to Android phones, these devices are where WeChat made much of its money. But earlier this year, WeChat launched “mini-programmes,” a form of lightweight app that operates independently of Apple’s app store and robs it of revenues.

现在，苹果公司已对腾讯有所不满。腾讯和苹果之前愉快地和平相处。尽管相比安卓手机来说，中国的有钱人更喜欢苹果手机，不过微信都能从这些手机中获利。但是，今年早期，微信推出了微小应用“小程序”，这些小程序可以独立于苹果软件商店运行，这抢走了苹果公司的利润。

Apple, meanwhile, had disliked but tolerated WeChat’s practice of allowing users to reward generators of content (for example, opinion columns) with small tips. These bypass Apple’s own payments mechanism. On April 19th Apple obliged WeChat to shut down tipping.

同时，苹果并不喜欢微信允许用户通过打赏来奖励文章的原创者（例如专栏），但是却不得不容忍。微信的打赏功能绕过苹果自己的支付机制。4月19号，苹果公司要求微信关闭打赏功能。

• shut down：  停止

Another front in the fighting is that the American firm’s mainland app store accepts Alipay, a payment service from China’s Alibaba, but not WeChat’s payment offering. Broadly, WeChat is going from being a social-media platform ( akin to Facebook and WhatsApp rolled into one) to becoming a mobile-operating system, putting it on a collision course with Apple. “There is a war going on,” says Mr Brennan.

在这场斗争中的另一条战线是，美国公司的应用商店都加入了支付宝应用（中国阿里巴巴的支付服务，而不是提供微信支付业务）。大体来讲，微信正在从成为一种社交平台（类似脸书、Whatsapp等软件的平台）逐渐发展成为可移动操作系统，这使得微信与苹果发生冲突。Brennan说道：“一场战争正在进行”。

• Akin to：相似的

• WhatsApp ：一款面向智能手机的即时通讯应用程序

Who will win such a clash of titans? Rumours are swirling among tech experts about what might happen next. Apple is trying to fortify its position. It is investing heavily in its large network of stores and research labs on the mainland; and it plans to include China in the first wave of countries in which its highly anticipated new iPhone will be launched later this year. But Apple is on the defensive, whereas Tencent is firmly on the attack.

在两个巨头公司的竞争中，谁将会赢得的胜利？ 技术专家对于接下来将会发生什么也是众说风云。苹果公司努力加强自己在中国的地位，所以在大陆大量投资庞大的网络商店和研究实验室。备受期待的新苹果手机在一些国家会被推迟发行，苹果公司计划将中国纳入这些国家之中。不过，苹果现在处于防御状态，腾讯则一直处于进攻状态。

• Fortify ：强化

Mr Brennan speculates that Tencent might even launch a WeChat phone, which would make Tencent’s offering completely independent of the iPhone. Anywhere else in the world, it would be foolish to go up against the Californian giant. In China, though, the native firm may have the advantage. As Connie Chan of Andreessen Horowitz, an investment fund in Silicon Valley, puts it: “ Loyalty is much, much stronger to WeChat than to Apple in China.”

Brennan预测腾讯甚至可能会推出微信手机，能够使腾讯推出的软件完全独立于苹果手机。无论哪个国家的公司，与苹果公司作对是不明智的。但是在中国，本土公司也许有优势。硅谷的Andreessen Horowitz（一家风险投资基金公司）的Connie Chan 讲到:在中国，用户对于微信的忠诚要比苹果强的多。

• speculates ： 推测

翻译 ▍sopia.yao

审核 ▍云图

图文编辑 ▍毛毛

责任编辑 ▍毛毛