经济学人:IBM的反叛呼喊(1)

 Big blue is donning red headgear. Even a few months ago the idea that IBM, a venerable corporate¹ IT firm, 蓝色巨人戴上了红帽子。即便是在几个月前，万人敬仰的IT公司IBM

would buy Red Hat, the biggest vendor² of open-source software, would have been considered highly unlikely, 收购最大开源软件供应商红帽子的想法几乎是没有可能的，

not least because of IBM's aversion to big mergers³. 主要是因为IBM的对大型企业并购的厌恶。

But on October 28th IBM announced that it would take over the firm for $34bn, 但在10月28日，IBM宣布将以340亿美元的价格收购该公司

which represented a 63% premium⁴ over Red Hat's closing share price at the end of the previous week. 较上个周末红帽子的收盘价溢价63%。

Red Hat is no household name, but in the IT industry the firm is considered a big success. 红帽子并不是一个家喻户晓的名字，但在IT行业，这家公司被认为是一个巨大的成功。

Founded in 1993, it reached $2.9bn in revenue in its most recent fiscal⁵ year. It takes free open-source software, makes some improvements, 该公司成立于1993年，其最新财政年度收入到达29亿美元。该公司对免费的开源软件进行改善

bundles it with other tools and services such as technical support, and charges a monthly subscription⁶ fee. 将其与其他工具和技术支持等服务进行捆绑，并收取月度订阅费。

The first product was a version of Linux, an operating system. 它的第一个产品是一版Linux，一个操作系统。

It later acquired or developed more and more pieces of software that are needed to power computing⁷ clouds. 之后公司获得或开发了越来越多启动计算云所需的软件。

One of the latest additions to its collection was OpenShift, a program that allows computing tasks to be easily moved around between data centres. 该公司最新的产品之一是OpenShift，一个可以让计算任务在两个数据中心轻松转移的程序。

IBM, for its part, has been struggling in recent years to transform itself from a firm which made most of its money from it services, software and mainframe computers 就其本身而言，IBM近几年一直在努力将自己从一家主要依靠服务、软件和大型计算机获利的公司

to one that is based on cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI). 变成一个以云计算和人工智能（AI）为基础的公司。

After 22 quarters of declining revenue, IBM seemed to be over the worst when its turnover⁸ started to increase early this year. 在连续22个季度利润下滑后，IBM似乎熬过了最糟糕的时期—公司营业额在今年早期开始增长。

But in the most recent quarter, revenue dipped again. 但在最新一个季度中，利润再次下跌。

The deal will probably mean that Ginni Rometty, the firm's chief executive, stays on for a few years to see through the integration⁹. 该协议可能意味着公司的首席执行官吉妮·罗睿兰将继续留任几年，以帮助完成公司并购。

Analysts¹⁰ thought she was on her way out, not just because her strategy seemed to be failing, 之前分析家认为她会离开公司，不仅仅是因为她的战略似乎失败了，

but because at 61, she is older than the standard retirement¹¹ age for IBM bosses of 60. 还因为她已经61岁了，超过了IBM总裁的标准退休年龄—60岁。

More importantly, IBM hopes that the acquisition will give it a chance to catch up in the market for cloud computing. 更重要的是，IBM希望此次收购能给公司一个追赶云计算市场。

Big Blue failed to take the trend seriously in the late 2000s and decided¹² not to invest in a network of huge data centres. 蓝色巨人在21世纪后期没能重视这种趋势，并决定不投资大型数据网络中心。

As a result it has fallen behind the big "public" clouds (as opposed to "private" ones, which only serve a particular company), 因此，它远远落后于那些大型“公共”云（和仅服务于某一家公司的“私有”云相反），

in particular Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure¹³. 尤其是亚马逊网络服务和微软Azure。

 

1 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

2 vendor   

n.卖主；小贩

参考例句：

• She looked at the vendor who cheated her the other day with distaste.她厌恶地望着那个前几天曾经欺骗过她的小贩。
• He must inform the vendor immediately.他必须立即通知卖方。

3 mergers   

n.（两个公司的）合并( merger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Mergers fall into three categories: horizontal, vertical, and conglomerate. 合并分为以下三种：横向合并，纵向合并和混合合并。 来自辞典例句
• Many recent mergers are concentrated within specific industries, particularly in retailing, airlines and communications. 现代许多合并企业集中进行某些特定业务，在零售业、民航和通讯业中更是如此。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

4 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。

5 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

6 subscription   

n.预订，预订费，亲笔签名，调配法，下标（处方）

参考例句：

• We paid a subscription of 5 pounds yearly.我们按年度缴纳5英镑的订阅费。
• Subscription selling bloomed splendidly.订阅销售量激增。

7 computing   

n.计算

参考例句：

• to work in computing 从事信息处理
• Back in the dark ages of computing, in about 1980, they started a software company. 早在计算机尚未普及的时代（约1980年），他们就创办了软件公司。

8 turnover   

n.人员流动率，人事变动率；营业额，成交量

参考例句：

• The store greatly reduced the prices to make a quick turnover.这家商店实行大减价以迅速周转资金。
• Our turnover actually increased last year.去年我们的营业额竟然增加了。

9 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

10 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

11 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 azure   

adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的

参考例句：

• His eyes are azure.他的眼睛是天蓝色的。
• The sun shone out of a clear azure sky.清朗蔚蓝的天空中阳光明媚。