中国智能手机制造商小米逐鹿欧洲市场 [美国媒体]

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is going after Europe

中国智能手机制造商小米逐鹿欧洲市场

First, it conquered India. Now, it wants to win over Europe.Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is making an aggressive play for European markets like France, Italy and Spain. The expansion comes ahead of the company's highly anticipated IPO, which is expected to raise billions of dollars this summer.

首先，小米征服了印度。而现在，它想要征服欧洲了。中国的智能手机厂商小米正在积极地布局法国，意大利和西班牙等欧洲国家的手机市场。此次扩张是在该公司备受期待的首次公开募股之前展开的。预计小米将会在这个夏天募集到数十亿美元的资金。

Xiaomi is best known for selling cheap, high performance smartphones. The bulk of its sales — more than 70% — are in China. But it has made inroads in other Asian countries, recently overtaking global leader Samsung to become the top smartphone seller in India.

小米以贩卖价格低廉，性能优越的智能手机成名。他们大部分的销售（超过70%）来自中国本土。但是小米在一些其他亚洲国家也取得了良好的销售成绩，最近他们在印度超越了三星，成为了印度最畅销的手机品牌。

Now, the Chinese company is looking to repeat that success in the more mature markets of Europe, and it's off to a strong start.

现在，这家中国公司希望在更加成熟的欧洲市场上复制他们的成功，而且他们的起跑是非常有力的。

Xiaomi is currently the fourth largest smartphone company in Europe, behind Samsung (SSNLF), Apple (AAPL) and Chinese rival Huawei, according to research firms IDC and Canalys. It's competing strongly in Spain, Greece and Russia.

根据调查公司IDC和科纳仕的数据显示，小米目前是欧洲市场上的第四大智能机公司，排在了三星，苹果以及他们的中国对手华为之后。而且在西班牙，希腊以及俄罗斯市场上他们有着非常强劲的竞争力。

Impressive growth 令人钦佩的增长速度

Francisco Jeronimo, a London-based analyst with IDC, said the buzz surrounding Xiaomi in Europe reminds him of the early success of the iPhone.

法兰西斯科.杰洛尼莫，一位驻伦敦的IDC分析师表示，最近小米进军欧洲市场带来的动静让它想起了早期IPHONE崛起时候的光景。

"I haven't seen any other vendor able to attract and push demand from consumers directly like Xiaomi is doing now and Apple did in the past," he said.

“我还没有看到任何其他厂商能像现在的小米那样直接吸引和推动消费者的需求。而在过去苹果也是这么做的，”他表示。

Xiaomi is riding the momentum, launching in France and Italy with splashy new stores in Paris and Milan late last month.

小米正处于所向上升之势，在上个月月底的时候，他们分别在法国的巴黎以及意大利的米兰开启了引人注目的崭新门店。


  
上个月，消费者们在小米的巴黎门店外排起了长队

Although the company has achieved rapid growth, it's not nipping at the heels of the top players yet. According to Canalys, Xiaomi sold 2.4 million phones in Europe last quarter, far fewer than Samsung's 15.2 million, Apple's 10.2 million and Huawei's 7.4 million.

虽然这家公司的销售取得了快速的增长，但是它还并未跟上其他顶尖厂商的脚步。根据科纳仕的数据显示，小米上一季度在欧洲累计出售了二百四十万只手机，远低于三星的一千五百二十万，苹果的一千零二十万以及华为的七百四十万。

"It doesn't seem like a huge amount at the moment, but the rate they're expanding is impressive, considering it's been less than a year" since Xiaomi entered the European market, said Ben Stanton, a Canalys analyst based in the United Kingdom.

“就目前而言这并不是一个非常巨大的数字，但是考虑到小米进入欧洲市场才不到1年，这样增长的速度是令人印象深刻。”驻与英国的科纳仕分析员本.斯坦顿表示。

Can it win over carriers? 小米能够通过运营商取胜吗？
Maintaining that growth rate, especially in countries like France and the United Kingdom, will depend a great deal on Xiaomi's relationships with wireless carriers. As many as 50% of consumers in western European buy their smartphones through carriers, according to IDC.

小米能否在法国和英国这些国家保持这一增长率呢？这将很大程度上取决他们与当地无线运营商之间的关系。根据IDC的数据显示，多达半数的西欧消费者们通过运营商购买他们的智能手机。

Forging ties with European carriers is more complicated than Xiaomi's preferred strategy of selling phones directly through online sales, retailers or its own stores.

小米热衷于通过在线销售，零售商或者自己开设的门店将手机直接销售给消费者。而与欧洲无限运营商建立联系将会比他们之前的策略更加复杂。

For one thing, Xiaomi wants to keep prices low, announcing last year that it would cap smartphone profit margins at 5%. So the margins Xiaomi is offering carriers "are not very good," making them wary of partnering with the company, according to Jeronimo.Xiaomi will also have to make alterations to its phones, which will increase production costs."If it wants to work with carriers, it has to learn to do things like SIM-locking phones, which has to be done in factory," Stanton said.

打个比方说，小米希望让自己的手机保持低价，他们于去年宣布将会把智能手机的利润率限制在5%。因此根据杰洛尼莫的说法，小米能够为运营商提供的利润“并不非常可观”，这也让运营商们对与小米的合作保持警惕的态度。此外小米还必须对它旗下的手机进行改造，这也会增加相应的生产成本。斯坦顿表示：“如果小米想要与运营商展开合作，那么它必须学会给他们的手机安装上卡锁之类的事情。这些事情都必须在工厂里得到解决。”

Xiaomi appears willing to adapt to the different markets, partnering with CK Hutchison's (CKHUY) mobile carrier network Three last month. Under the deal, Xiaomi phones will be sold in Three's stores in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Austria, Italy, Denmark and Sweden.Xiaomi has so far succeeded in Europe by wrestling market share away from other low- and mid-range smartphone makers; the vast majority of phones it sells in Europe cost less than 200 ($235)."What consumers want is a device that looks like an iPhone, performs like an iPhone, but is half the price of an iPhone ... and Xiaomi has been able to nail it," Jeronimo said.In the next year, analysts predict Xiaomi will focus on expanding into as many European markets as possible, and eventually start pushing pricier smartphones.

小米似乎也愿意去适应不同环境的市场，他们在上个月与和记电讯达成了合作关系。根据协议，小米手机将会在位于英国、爱尔兰、奥地利、意大利、丹麦和瑞典等地的和记门店展开销售。到目前为止，小米通过从其他中低端智能手机制造商手中掠夺市场份额在欧洲获得了成功。他们在欧洲销售的绝大多数手机的价格都低于200欧元。
“消费者们想要的是一款看起来Iphone，用起来也像Iphone,而价格只有Iphone一半的手机。而小米能够做到这一点。”杰洛尼莫表示。分析师预计，在未来的一年里，小米将会全力专注于地在欧洲市场的业务扩张，并最终推出一些更加昂贵的智能手机。        

Is the US next?

美国会是下一个目标吗？

Xiaomi is also interested in the United States — CEO Lei Jun has previously said he wants Xiaomi to make its US debut by early next year.But that could be a tougher challenge than Europe. Major Chinese smartphone makers Huawei and ZTE (ZTCOF) have faced significant challenges in the United States, including accusations from government agencies that their devices could pose security risks because of ties to the Chinese government. Huawei and ZTE dispute the claims.Xiaomi hopes to avoid that fate, and could use success in Europe to help shape its strategy for the United States."Europe is the stepping stone," Stanton said.

小米对美国市场也同样抱有兴趣--小米首席执行官雷军此前曾表示，他希望小米能够在明年年初首次亮相美国市场。但是这可能将会是比开阔欧洲市场更加严峻的挑战。中国的大型智能手机制造商华为和中兴都在美国面临着严峻的挑战，包括美国的政府机构指控介于其与中国政府的关系，他们的设备会危害美国的国家安全。华为和中兴否认了这一说法。小米希望能够避免这种命运，他们希望能够利用在欧洲获得成功所得到的经验来帮助他们制定针对美国市场的战略。
“欧洲是他们的踏脚石。”斯坦顿表示。