经济学人:苹果在中国 与腾讯的应用之战(1)

 　　Business 商业

　　Apple in China: App Wars 苹果在中国：应用之战

　　Tencent takes on Apple in China 腾讯与苹果公司在中国的角逐。

　　In most of the world, the success of Apple's “walled garden” of proprietary¹ software has two elements. 在世界的大多数国家中，苹果公司专有软件的封闭平台的成功有两个因素。

　　First, its attractive services: users tend to be addicted² to its iTunes music shop and iBooks store. 首先是苹果软件诱人的服务，用户一般会沉迷于它的iTunes 音乐商店和iBooks 商店。

　　Second, the complexities³ involved in switching from an iPhone to another device without losing music files or having to re-download apps. 其次，从iPhone切换到其他设备而不丢失音乐文件或必须重新下载应用程序又纷繁复杂。

　　Neither factor works as well in China. 不过这两点在中国却不起作用。

　　There, many of Apple's services have not taken off. 苹果公司的许多服务也并没有成功。

　　The American giant missed the boat on music sales in the country, reckons Matthew Brennan of China Channel, a technology consultancy. 中国频道的技术顾问Matthew Brennan 认为，苹果公司错失了在中国销售音乐的机会。

　　Its sales of books are blocked by the government. 政府也阻止苹果出售书籍。

　　In addition, few would disagree that its messaging service is a flop⁴ and that Apple Pay, its mobile-payment offering, is irrelevant—its market share on the mainland is only 1%. 另外，几乎所有人认为苹果的短信服务是彻底失败的，也认为苹果的移动支付应用也是没有必要的，苹果支付在大陆所占的市场份额仅1%。

　　A “genius” employee at an Apple store in Shanghai admits sheepishly that “iCloud doesn't work very well in China.” 上海一家苹果商店里的一位销售“天才吧”的工作人员含蓄的承认，苹果云服务在中国运行的不是很好。

　　And switching is a doddle in China, observes Ben Thompson of Stratechery, an industry newsletter. 行业资讯服务机构Stratechery的Ben Thompson表示，在中国，换部手机是一件非常容易的事。

　　Nearly everyone uses WeChat, an app made by Tencent, one of China's three big internet giants, for everything from social media to payments. 从社会媒体到支付等一切事情，每个人都是通过腾讯（中国三大互联网巨头之一）推出的微信来完成。

　　Through WeChat it is easy to transfer photos, messages, contacts and payments history maintained on that app from one device to another. 在微信上，从一个手机向另一个手机传输照片、短信、联系人以及消费历史也是很简单的。

　　No wonder that Apple's retention⁵ rate among iPhone users, which tops 80% in America and Britain, is only 50% in China. 难怪，在苹果手机用户中，在美国和英国持有率有80%的苹果公司的软件在中国仅有50%的持有率。

　　That does not bode⁶ well for a key market. 在这一关键市场中，这并不是一个好兆头。

　　Apple's revenues in greater China have nearly doubled since 2013, to $48.5bn in 2016, thanks in part to its mainland app store. 2013年以来，苹果公司在中国的收益几乎翻了一番，2016年，达到485亿美元，在某种程度上，这得益于大陆的应用商店。

　　App Annie, a research firm, reckons it is the world's biggest Apple app store, as measured by revenue. 从收益上来说，Annie（一家研究型软件公司）认为大陆得苹果应用商店是全球最大的。

　　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 consecutive⁷ quarter of decline. 在今年的第一季度，苹果在中国的业绩与去年相比较下降了14%，销售额连续五个季度下降。

　　Canalys, a market-research firm, estimates that shipments of iPhones on the mainland plunged⁸ by a quarter in the first quarter. 一家市场研究公司Canalys估计，苹果在大陆的出货量会在第一季度减少四分之一。

1 proprietary   

n.所有权，所有的；独占的；业主

参考例句：

• We had to take action to protect the proprietary technology.我们必须采取措施保护专利技术。
• Proprietary right is the foundation of jus rerem.所有权是物权法之根基。

2 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

3 complexities   

复杂性(complexity的名词复数)； 复杂的事物

参考例句：

• The complexities of life bothered him. 生活的复杂使他困惑。
• The complexities of life bothered me. 生活的杂乱事儿使我心烦。

4 flop   

n.失败(者)，扑通一声；vi.笨重地行动，沉重地落下

参考例句：

• The fish gave a flop and landed back in the water.鱼扑通一声又跳回水里。
• The marketing campaign was a flop.The product didn't sell.市场宣传彻底失败，产品卖不出去。

5 retention   

n.保留，保持，保持力，记忆力

参考例句：

• They advocate the retention of our nuclear power plants.他们主张保留我们的核电厂。
• His retention of energy at this hour is really surprising.人们惊叹他在这个时候还能保持如此旺盛的精力。

6 bode   

v.预示

参考例句：

• These figures do not bode well for the company's future.这些数字显示出公司的前景不妙。
• His careful habits bode well for his future.他那认真的习惯预示著他会有好的前途。

7 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

8 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。