微信被描述为苹果最强对手 [美国媒体]

WeChat App in China Described as Apple's 'Toughest Rival' as iPhone 8 Launch Nears

苹果8将近微信被描述为苹果最强对手



Apple's difficulty in garnering a larger share of the smartphone market in China has been looked at recently by The Wall Street Journal, which described the ubiquitous mobile app WeChat as the iPhone's "toughest rival" in the country. Citing data from QuestMobile, on average WeChat is said to have captured nearly 35 percent of each user's monthly smartphone usage time, averaging about 1 billion monthly active users in total.

最近华尔街日报的一篇文章审视了苹果在中国获取智能手机市场份额的艰困，文章把无所不在的微信描述为在该国“最强的对手”。文章引用QuestMobile的数据，微信据称占据了每名用户智能手机月使用时间的35%，每月活跃用户总计达到10亿。

The problem for Apple is that WeChat is an entire ecosystem, with one app allowing users to pay for services, text, call cabs, watch videos, play mobile games, and access cloud-based "mini programs," or apps that don't need to be downloaded to a device to be used. Because all of these WeChat features are universal across smartphone brands, analysts speaking with The Wall Street Journal questioned whether or not Apple is "losing its edge" in China.

苹果的麻烦在于，微信是一整个生态系统，一个应用就可以同时允许用户支付服务，传信息，叫计程车，看视频，玩游戏，还可以使用基于云端的“小程序”或者说是不需下载就可以使用的程序。由于上述所有功能都可以在任何品牌的手机上使用，一些分析师对华尔街日报说，他们怀疑苹果在中国“失去了优势”。

Specifically, Apple saw a sales drop in Greater China (including Hong Kong and Taiwan) in the first half of this past fiscal year, with revenue falling 13 percent in the period. According to analysts looking towards the launch of the iPhone 8, that device's success "largely depends on sales in China."

尤其是在刚刚过去的上半年会计年度，苹果在大中华区（包括香港台湾）的销售额下降了13%。据期待苹果8发布的分析师们说，其成功与否“很大程度上取决于中国的销售情况”。

Skeptical investors are asking whether consumers in China will pay $1,000 for a new iPhone, when they spend more than 60% of their phone time inside a system from Tencent or from rivals Baidu Inc. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. “That’s the question: Is Apple losing its edge?” said Katy Huberty of Morgan Stanley, who remains optimistic about Apple’s prospects in China.

持怀疑态度的投资者开始问：当超过60%的时间被花在腾讯或它的对手百度和阿里巴巴的系统里时，中国消费者会花1000美金买苹果8么？“问题就是，苹果是不是正在失去优势”摩根斯坦利的Katy Huberty说，但他对苹果在中国的前景依然保持了乐观。

Apple has been making moves recently to focus on China, including naming Isabel Ge Mahe as vice president and managing director of Greater China, who is said to ensure that Apple's products and services appeal specifically to China users. Just this weekend, Apple also removed VPN apps from the China App Store, a move that could potentially help Apple gain favor with Chinese authorities.

苹果最近在中国方面开始有一些举动。包括任命Isabel Ge Mahe为副总裁以及大中华区的董事总经理。她被要求确保苹果的产品和服务能够十分吸引中国用户。就在这周末，苹果还下架了中国区程序商店里的VPN程序，这一举动有可能会帮助苹果获取中国当局的好感。

Some iOS 11 features -- such as the new QR code scanner in the Camera app -- are also seen as a way for Apple to appeal to users in China who are used to having these abilities on hand with WeChat. If Apple doesn't continue to bolster its software, solely relying on upgraded hardware changes might not be enough to convince iPhone users to stick around, according to analyst Ben Thompson.

一些IOS11里的特色，比如相机里新增的二维码扫描功能都被看做取悦中国用户的举动，因中国用户已经习惯了早已具有此功能的微信。分析师Ben Thompson说，如果苹果不再加大软件方面的投入，而只是依赖硬件方面的提升，将不足以说服用户继续支持。

Tailoring software for the market could be critical to keeping the iPhone competitive. Otherwise, Mr. Thompson wrote, Apple runs the risk that the phone’s appearance becomes the only thing that matters when Chinese consumers buy a new device.

使软件升级可能在保持苹果竞争力上至关重要，Thompson先生写到，如果不升级软件，苹果将面临风险，中国用户在购买新苹果手机时，外观将使唯一重要的事情。

Such a shift potentially would force Apple to overhaul its entire business model, moving to a system where it releases a new-looking phone annually rather than every other year, as it does currently.

这种转变将迫使苹果彻底检查它的生意模式，开始进入一种每年发布一种新手机，而非隔年发布的体制，就像最近发生的那样。

In terms of market share, market research firm Warren Capital noted that Apple and the iPhone have taken fourth place in China, behind Oppo, Vivo, and Huawei. Apple dropped to fifth place in terms of smartphone devices shipped in Q4 2016 (with Xiaomi added into the mix along with the previously mentioned Chinese brands), and in April Kantar Worldpanel's data noted that iOS dropped to its lowest share of the China smartphone market since 2014.

在市场份额方面，市场分析公司Warren Capital说，苹果以及苹果手机排在第四位，前面是Oppo，Vivo，和华为。在2016年第四季度，在智能手机出货量上，由于小米的加入，苹果掉到了第五位。今年四月Kantar Worldpanel的数据显示IOS的市场份额降到了2014年以来的新低。

Thompson points to WeChat as a major reason only 50 percent of China-based iPhone owners stayed with Apple when purchasing a new phone, while in other countries that number is closer to 80 percent on average. Since users spend so much time within WeChat and rarely see any other advantages to owning an iPhone, the app "has turned Apple into just another vendor in China," which analysts see as particularly problematic for Apple as the iPhone 8 launch grows nearer. 

在中国，人们购买新手机时只有50%的人会考虑购买苹果，而在其他国家是80%。Thompson 指出，微信是一个很大的原因。因为用户在微信上花费如此多的时间，而很难看出拥有苹果手机有啥优势，这个程序“把苹果变成了只不过是另一个销售商”，分析师们把这看成苹果的大麻烦，尤其是苹果8马上就要发布。

During a visit to China earlier in the year, Apple CEO Tim Cook told local media outlet Caixin, "We're not just someone who's here to access the market. We've created almost 5 million jobs in China. I'm not sure there are too many companies, domestic or foreign, who can say that." Ultimately, Cook said that Apple isn't afraid of the challenges it faces in China, telling the site that Apple is "here to stay."

今年早些时候，苹果CEO Tim Cook访问中国时告诉当地媒体，“我们来中国不只是要进入这个市场，我们还给中国创造了五百万个就业机会。我不觉得有很多其他公司能这么说，别管本地还是外国的”。最后，他说苹果不害怕在中国面临的挑战，“苹果将在中国扎根”，他说。


nicho
“It's time to make iMessage multiplatform.”
It's too late. That would just give existing iOS users even less reasons to stick with iPhone.

“是时候把IMessage也变成多平台的了。”
我觉得太晚了。那将使现有的IOS用户更没原因使用苹果。

willmtaylor
“I've always considered WeChat a backdoor for China to access users phones.”
That’s because it is.

“我一直觉得微信就是一个中国获取用户信息的后门”
本来就是。

furqan8421
“Apple could pull WeChat from the app store but then face the backlash. If it's not pulled, the popularity of WeChat grows. It's a tricky situation.”
If they did that then based on the article Apple would surely lose more ground in china 
The app seems to be popular independent of Apple in which case people may feel that any smartphone capable of running it is good enough for them.

“苹果可以把微信从程序商店移除，但会面临反击。不撤吧，又只能看着它变得更受欢迎。真是进退两难。”
如果他们真撤了，根据文章分析，苹果必然面临更大的损失。微信这个程序貌似不管在什么手机上都受欢迎，不受苹果制约。人们会觉得只要能运行它的手机都不错。

gatearray
This is related to the "in-app tipping" ban a few weeks back, which followed the original reports about the tremendous position of WeChat in the Chinese market as related to Apple Pay. It would seem Apple was asleep at the switch until they read Gruber's website one morning, and now a Chinese woman is in charge of Apple China... 
Was anybody fired? They threw Forestall under the bus for less.
But then again, this is the same group of visionaries that gave-up the keys to the kingdom to Facebook and Twitter, baking them directly into iOS in an unprecedented and utterly foolish move in 2012. 
Flash forward to 2017 and say hello to the dead App Store, FB zombies roaming the streets, Fake News and President Twitter. 
Great job, fruitcakes! X-)

这其实是关于几周之前的苹果“程序内打赏”的禁令，在此之前有关于微信在中国市场卓越地位的报告，苹果支付也与此相关。苹果好像一开始一直在睡觉，直到他们一天早上看到了Gruber的网站，现在一个中国女人就掌管了苹果中国。
而再一次的，同样的一群“高瞻远瞩”的人，放弃了Facebook和Twitter通往这个国度的钥匙，在2012年以前所未有的愚蠢举动造出了个IOS。
时光飞逝到2017年，我们现在看到了垂死的苹果商店，街上游荡的脸书僵尸，假新闻还有总统推特。
干得好，傻瓜们！（这段不太明白啥意思，可能翻错了。）

willmtaylor
Well of course. WeChat is ok with being censored and ok with handing over user info to the government.
Apple isn’t willing to make these concessions (yet), and until they do, they’ll never make up any ground.
IMHO, this battle is already lost, and making such compromises would only erode Apple’s image and current customer base.

当然了。微信对于审查和提交用户信息给政府完全没意见。苹果不愿意（迄今为止）让步，在让步之前他们肯定举步维艰。以我愚见，这场仗已经输了，做出让步只会使苹果形象受损，丢失现有的用户基础。

gnipgnop
There's not much Apple can do about it, really. WeChat is heavily controlled by the Chinese government, thus paving the way for it to be so widespread within the country. There are plenty of other highly valued U.S. tech companies that aren't even doing business in China, so it's not the end of the world. The app downloads seem to be doing well in China too.

事实上苹果能做的不多。微信由于被中国政府强烈控制，所以在席卷全国的路上一帆风顺。还有一些其他的美国非常有价值的公司根本就不在中国做生意。所以这并非世界末日。在中国的程序下载看起来进行的不错。