Fast-moving Asian Phone Makers Gain on Apple
亞洲手機制造商快速發(fā)展逼近蘋果公司
Apple announced its new iPhones last week, but competitors' mobile phones can do many of the same things for less money.
蘋果公司上周宣布推出新款iPhone,但是競爭對手的手機可以用更少的錢做到很多相同的事情。
The new iPhone 8 and X have wireless charging, edge-to-edge glass screen and dual cameras.
新款iPhone 8 和 X 擁有無線充電、無邊框屏幕和雙攝像頭。
But all of these features are already available in smart phones from China's Huawei and Oppo, and Korea's Samsung.
但是這些功能已經(jīng)在中國的華為、OPPO和韓國的三星智能手機上得到應用。
While Apple asks buyers to pay $1,000 for its high-end model, some Asian phone makers can offer similar features for less.
當蘋果為其高端機型標出1000美元的售價時,一些亞洲手機制造商可以用更少的錢提供類似功能。
At one time, Chinese manufacturers copied features and designs from others to produce low-cost phones. But they have now added high-end features to their phones and they control nearly half the global mobile phone market.
中國制造商曾經(jīng)一度靠山寨其它公司的功能和設計來生產(chǎn)廉價手機。但是他們現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)在其手機上添加了高端功能,并且控制了全球近一半的手機市場。
MediaMarktSaturn is Europe's biggest electronics seller. A spokesperson for the store told Reuters that, "Huawei is seen as a relevant competitor to Apple and Samsung (by) covering all major price points and placing big investments in marketing and sales."
MediaMarktSaturn是歐洲最大的電子產(chǎn)品銷售商。該商場的發(fā)言人對路透社表示:“華為覆蓋了所有主要價位,并在市場營銷和銷售商投入巨資,被視為蘋果和三星的重要競爭對手。”
She also said that the Chinese companies Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo and TCL were among the top-10 best-selling smartphones in its stores.
她還表示,中國的華為、中興、聯(lián)想和TCL公司在他們商場的手機銷量位居前十。
Chinese manufacturers' fast growth has been fueled by strong sales in China. But they now export 40 percent of their smartphones. That is almost double the number from just three years ago, according to the Hong Kong investment company CLSA.
香港投資公司里昂證券表示,中國制造商的快速發(fā)展受到了中國強勁銷售的推動,但是他們目前出口了40%的手機,這幾乎是三年前的一倍。
Huawei is currently the world's third largest phone maker behind Samsung and Apple. According to research company Canalys, the Chinese company is getting closer to second-place Apple and might overtake it later this year.
華為目前是全球第三大手機廠商,位居三星和蘋果之后。Canalys研究公司表示,這家中國公司越來越接近排名第二的蘋果公司,并可能會在今年晚些時候完成超越。
The Chinese company even made fun of Apple's new facial recognition feature with a Facebook video called "RealAIphone." Huawei plans to show its top-of-the-line Mate 10 phone on Oct. 16. The phone will have artificial intelligence features such as instant translation and image recognition and will cost less than $1,000.
這家中國公司甚至在Facebook上發(fā)布了一則名為《RealAIphone》的視頻,取笑蘋果公司新的面部識別功能。華為計劃在10月16日推出該公司頂級的Mate 10 手機。這款手機將具備人工智能功能,例如即時翻譯和圖像識別,售價可能低于1千美元。
Other Chinese companies are looking to enter the high-end smartphone market.
其它中國公司正在尋求進入高端智能手機市場。
Xiaomi, for example, showed a full-screen phone this month with all-ceramic ‘unibody' design and 12-megapixel front camera. The special edition Mi MIX 2 sells for $720.
例如,小米公司本月推出了一款配備全陶瓷一體設計和1200萬前置攝像頭的全屏手機。這款特制版的Mi Mix2 售價為720美元。
Also, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo are working to add ultrasound sensors under smartphone screens to improve the touch function.
此外,小米、OPPO和VIVO都致力于在智能手機屏幕下添加超聲波傳感器以改善觸摸功能。
Neil Shah is research director at the company Counterpoint. He said Chinese companies with a lot of sales are able to access many of the same parts for phones and offer many features. He said that has hurt Apple's growth.
Neil Shah是Counterpoint公司的研究總監(jiān)。他說,銷量很大的中國公司有能力獲得許多相同的手機組件并提供很多功能。他說,這已經(jīng)損害到了蘋果公司的增長。
Still a gap
仍有差距
However, Apple still has a big lead over its Chinese competitors in the high-end market. And few experts think Apple fans will switch from the iPhone X to Huawei's Mate 10.
然而,蘋果公司在高端市場仍然大幅領先于中國競爭對手。只有少數(shù)專家認為蘋果手機的粉絲會從iPhone X 轉投華為的Mate 10 。
The average selling price of smartphones from the top Chinese makers - Huawei, Oppo and Vivo - is just $248, or two-thirds less than the cheapest iPhone 8.
中國頂級制造商華為、OPPO和VIVO智能手機的平均售價只有248美元,比最便宜的iPhone 8還便宜2/3。
Apple has 63 percent of the market for phones priced higher than $600 compared to just 3 percent for Huawei, according to research from the Swiss bank UBS.
根據(jù)瑞銀的研究,蘋果公司在售價高于600美元的手機市場占有63%的份額,華為只占到3%。
"The biggest challenge they (Chinese firms) face would be proving to consumers their products and brand are worth paying that much for," said Xiaohan Tay, an expert at the research firm IDC.
IDC研究公司專家Xiaohan Tay表示:“中國公司面臨的最大挑戰(zhàn)是向消費者證明,他們的產(chǎn)品和品牌物有所值。”
I'm Mario Ritter.
馬里奧·里特報道。
Apple announced its new iPhones last week, but competitors’ mobile phones can do many of the same things for less money.
The new iPhone 8 and X have wireless charging, edge-to-edge glass screen and dual cameras.
But all of these features are already available in smart phones from China’s Huawei and Oppo, and Korea’s Samsung.
While Apple asks buyers to pay $1,000 for its high-end model, some Asian phone makers can offer similar features for less.
At one time, Chinese manufacturers copied features and designs from others to produce low-cost phones. But they have now added high-end features to their phones and they control nearly half the global mobile phone market.
MediaMarktSaturn is Europe’s biggest electronics seller. A spokesperson for the store told Reuters that, “Huawei is seen as a relevant competitor to Apple and Samsung (by) covering all major price points and placing big investments in marketing and sales.”
She also said that the Chinese companies Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo and TCL were among the top-10 best-selling smartphones in its stores.
Chinese manufacturers’ fast growth has been fueled by strong sales in China. But they now export 40 percent of their smartphones. That is almost double the number from just three years ago, according to the Hong Kong investment company CLSA.
Huawei is currently the world’s third largest phone maker behind Samsung and Apple. According to research company Canalys, the Chinese company is getting closer to second-place Apple and might overtake it later this year.
The Chinese firm even made fun of Apple’s new facial recognition feature with a Facebook video “RealAIphone.” Huawei plans to show its top-of-the-line Mate 10 phone on Oct. 16. The phone will have artificial intelligence features such as instant translation and image recognition and will cost less than $1,000.
Other Chinese companies are looking to enter the high-end smartphone market.
Xiaomi, for example, showed a full-screen phone this month with all-ceramic‘unibody’ design and 12-megapixel front camera. The special edition Mi MIX 2 sells for $720.
Also, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo are working to add ultrasound sensors under smartphone screens to improve the touch function.
Neil Shah is research director at the company Counterpoint. He said Chinese companies with a lot of sales are able to access many of the same parts for phones and offer many features. He said that has hurt Apple’s growth.
Still a gap
However, Apple still has a big lead over its Chinese competitors in the high-end market. And few experts think Apple fans will switch from the iPhone X to Huawei’s Mate 10.
The average selling price of smartphones from the top Chinese makers - Huawei, Oppo and Vivo - is just $248, or two-thirds less than the cheapest iPhone 8.
Apple has 63 percent of the market for phones priced higher than $600 compared to just 3 percent for Huawei, according to research from the Swiss bank UBS.
“The biggest challenge they (Chinese firms) face would be proving to consumers their products and brand are worth paying that much for,” said Xiaohan Tay, an expert at the research firm IDC.
I’m Mario Ritter.
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Words in This Story
edge-to-edge –adj. completely covering the front of the device
features –n. a quality or ability
high-end –adj. a costly line of products
relevant –adj. relating to something in a useful way
top-of-the-line –adj. the highest or most advanced product among those sold by a company
artificial intelligence –n. related to machines like computers that can copy intelligent human behavior
ceramic –n. made from clay
function –n. a special purpose or ability
challenge –n. something that is difficult to do
consumers –n. a person who buys good or services
brand –n. a set of products that have a name