 Apple Vs Tencent 00:0004:36 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. 在世界上大多数地方，苹果的“围墙花园”策略非常成功，原因有二。一是吸引人的服务：用户往往沉迷于苹果的iTunes音乐商店和电子书商店。二是如果要换其他品牌子的手机，同时不想放弃音乐或不想重新下载应用的话，会让人陷入两难境地。 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，这两个因素在中国都不起作用，因为在中国，苹果不提供许多服务都没有在中国提供。技术咨询机构中国渠道（China Channel）的马修·布伦南（Matthew Brennan） 认为，美国巨头苹果错过了在中国销售音乐销售的大船，同时其书籍销售也遭中国政府封锁。 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.” 此外，几乎人人都认同苹果的短信功能是个败笔，移动支付Apple Pay没有什么效果，因为在中国大陆的市场份额只有1%。上海的苹果商店中一名“Genius”工程师储蓄地承认'iCloud云服务在中国的发展并不怎么好'。 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的本·汤普森表示，手机迁移在中国是件很简单的事。几乎所有人都用微信来完成从社交到支付的所有事情。微信的提供商是中国三大互联网巨头之一的腾讯。通过微信，能轻而易举地将照片、信息、联系方式、支付历史转移到另一手机上。 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. 难怪苹果在iPhone用户中的保留率在中国只有50%，而在美国和英国超过了80%。对于一个关键市场来说，这并不是一个好的预兆。苹果在大中华区的收入自2013年以来将近翻了一番，2016年达到了485亿美元，部分要归功于其大陆应用商店。市场研究机构App Annie估算，按收入来算，大陆苹果应用商店是全球规模最大的。不过，今年第一季度，苹果在大中华区的销售量同比下降了14%左右，连续五个季度减少。市场研究机构Canalys估计，苹果手机在中国大陆的出货量在今年第一季度减少了25%。 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. 如今，苹果与腾讯之间的争夺彻底爆发。两家原本很愉快地互依互存：因为有钱的中国人更喜欢用iPhone而非安卓手机，而微信从iPhone手机从上赚了很多钱。不过，在今年年初，微信推出轻应用“小程序”，独立于苹果应用商店运营，抢夺苹果的收入。 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，苹果从来不喜欢，即一直容忍微信允许用户打赏内容作者的行为（例如，公众号）。这种行为绕过了苹果自己的支付机制。4月19日，苹果迫使微信关闭了打赏功能。 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. 腾讯与苹果之争的另一条战线是苹果在大陆的应用商店接受了阿里巴巴的支付服务软件支付宝，却没有微信支付。大体上，微信会从一个社交平台（类似于Facebook加WhatsApp）发展成一个移动操作系统，这与苹果会产生冲突。布伦南说：“（两者）必有一战。” 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. 两大巨头之争，谁会是最后的胜者呢？在技术专业人士中流传着事情之后的走向。苹果正在巩固自己的地位，将在大陆投入巨资，建设苹果商店销售网络以及研究实验室；而且，苹果计划将中国纳入第一批苹果秋季新品发售的国家。不过，苹果现在处于防御状态，腾讯一直处于进攻状态。 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.” 布伦南认为，腾讯可能会推出微信手机，让腾讯的服务完全独立于苹果手机。在世界上任何其它地方，与苹果作对都是愚蠢的行为，可是，在中国，本土公司腾讯可能具有优势。正如硅谷投资基金公司Andreessen Horowitz的陈梅陵（Connie Chan） 所言：“用户对微信的忠诚度要远远高于对苹果的忠诚度。” |
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