黑莓叫停智能手機硬件業(yè)務(wù)

BlackBerry, the pioneering smartphone maker, is to stop making its own handsets and pull out of the devices business, as the company behind the tiny Qwerty keyboard once coveted by the corporate world focuses on selling software and services.

　　智能手機制造先驅(qū)黑莓(BlackBerry)將停止生產(chǎn)自己的手機，退出硬件業(yè)務(wù)，這家曾經(jīng)推出一度被商界渴求的迷你型QWERTY鍵盤的公司今后將致力于銷售軟件和服務(wù)。

　　The Canadian group said it would “end all internal hardware development” with immediate effect, and license its brand and software to third-party manufacturers who would develop phones bearing the BlackBerry badge.

　　這家加拿大集團表示，將立即“停止所有內(nèi)部硬件開發(fā)”，并將其品牌和軟件授權(quán)給第三方制造商使用，后者將開發(fā)帶有黑莓標識的手機。

　　“It’s the end of the line for the firm’s hardware business,” said Nick McQuire, an analyst at CCS Insight.

　　CCS Insight分析師尼克•麥夸爾(Nick McQuire)表示：“這是該公司硬件業(yè)務(wù)的終局。”

　　At its zenith in 2008, BlackBerry accounted for one in every five smartphones sold, after its handsets became a staple for business executives. Designed to be as easy for writing emails as making phone calls, they eventually captured the consumer market too.

　　在2008年巔峰時期，每銷售的5部智能手機當中就有一部是黑莓手機，其手機成為企業(yè)高管的標配。由于用黑莓手機寫郵件和打電話一樣方便，它最終也捕獲了消費者市場。

　　As sales soared, the company’s market value hit $80bn, compared with roughly $4bn today.

　　隨著銷量飆升，黑莓市值達到800億美元，相比之下，如今只有40億美元左右。

　　Since its peak in popularity it has haemorrhaged sales in the face of strong competition from Apple and Samsung, as well as low-cost Asian manufacturers, leaving it with a share of the global smartphone market that is practically a rounding error: 0.1 per cent, according to Gartner.

　　黑莓自那以來盛極而衰，手機銷量由于遭到蘋果(Apple)和三星(Samsung)以及低成本的亞洲制造商的激烈競爭而大幅下滑，它在全球市場的份額實際上僅剩下了一個零頭：高德納(Gartner)的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，它的份額僅為0.1%。

　　Revenues from the company’s smartphones slumped to $105m in the latest quarter, compared with $417m in the same period last year.

　　該公司最近季度的智能手機收入暴跌至1.05億美元，去年同期為4.17億美元。

　　Shares in BlackBerry gained 2.6 per cent in early trading in New York as the company predicted the moves would boost profitability John Chen, chief executive, said it had signed a licensing deal with BB Merah Putih, an Indonesian joint venture led by one of the country’s largest telecoms groups, PT Tiphone Mobile Indonesia, which would have sole responsibility for making, promoting and distributing devices in the region.

　　黑莓股價紐約早盤時分上漲2.6%，因為該公司預計這些舉措將會提升盈利能力。黑莓首席執(zhí)行官程守宗(John Chen)表示，該公司與BB Merah Putih簽署了授權(quán)協(xié)議，后者是印尼最大電信集團之一PT Tiphone Mobile Indonesia旗下的合資企業(yè)，它將擁有在該地區(qū)制造、營銷和經(jīng)銷手機的獨家權(quán)利。

　　The company is exploring similar deals with groups in India and China, he said.

　　他說，該公司正在探索與印度和中國的公司達成類似協(xié)議。

　　But in regions such as the US and Europe, a hardcore of loyal BlackBerry customers or “Crackberry addicts” will struggle to buy new devices, unless the company finds a partner, Mr Chen said.

　　但程守宗表示，在美國和歐洲等地區(qū)，黑莓鐵桿客戶或“癮莓”將很難買到新的黑莓手機，除非該公司找到合作伙伴。

　　“My new model is to ramp down the selling of hardware anywhere — but we might have partners to sell it,” he said.

　　他說：“我的新模式是減少所有地方的硬件銷售——但我們可能有合作伙伴愿意銷售。”

　　BlackBerry’s departure from the smartphone business is the most radical step taken by Mr Chen, who joined as chief executive in 2013 with a pledge to transform it into a security-focused software company. He has expanded the software division through acquisitions, including Good Technology, a mobile security provider, and AtHoc, a company that helps build emergency alert systems for governments.

　　黑莓退出智能手機業(yè)務(wù)是程守宗推出的最為激進的舉措，后者在2013年加入黑莓擔任首席執(zhí)行官，并承諾讓黑莓轉(zhuǎn)型為聚焦安全的軟件公司。他通過收購移動安全提供商Good Technology和AtHoc等公司擴大了軟件部門。AtHoc是一家?guī)椭蛟炀o急警報系統(tǒng)的公司。