经济学人:苹果在中国 与腾讯的应用之战(2)

 　　Hostilities¹ have now broken out with Tencent. 现在，苹果公司已对腾讯有所不满。

　　The two had co-existed happily: since richer Chinese prefer iPhones to Android phones, these devices are where WeChat made much of its money. 腾讯和苹果之前愉快地和平相处。尽管相比安卓手机来说，中国的有钱人更喜欢苹果手机，不过微信都能从这些手机中获利。

　　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. 但是，今年早期，微信推出了微小应用“小程序”，这些小程序可以独立于苹果软件商店运行，这抢走了苹果公司的利润。

　　Apple, meanwhile, had disliked but tolerated WeChat's practice of allowing users to reward generators² of content (for example, opinion columns) with small tips. 同时，苹果并不喜欢微信允许用户通过打赏来奖励文章的原创者（例如专栏），但是却不得不容忍。

　　These bypass Apple's own payments mechanism³. 微信的打赏功能绕过苹果自己的支付机制。

　　On April 19th Apple obliged WeChat to shut down tipping. 4月19号，苹果公司要求微信关闭打赏功能。

　　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. 在这场斗争中的另一条战线是，美国公司的应用商店都加入了支付宝应用（中国阿里巴巴的支付服务，而不是提供微信支付业务）。

　　Broadly, WeChat is going from being a social-media platform (akin to Facebook and WhatsApp rolled into one) to becoming a mobile-operating system,  大体来讲，微信正在从成为一种社交平台（类似脸书、Whatsapp等软件的平台）逐渐发展成为可移动操作系统，

　　putting it on a collision course with Apple. 这使得微信与苹果发生冲突。

　　“There is a war going on,” says Mr Brennan. Brennan说道：“一场战争正在进行”。

　　Who will win such a clash of titans? 在两个巨头公司的竞争中，谁将会赢得的胜利？

　　Rumours⁴ are swirling⁵ among tech experts about what might happen next. 技术专家对于接下来将会发生什么也是众说风云。

　　Apple is trying to fortify⁶ its position. 苹果公司努力加强自己在中国的地位。

　　It is investing heavily in its large network of stores and research labs on the mainland;  所以它开始在大陆大量投资庞大的网络商店和研究实验室；

　　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. 而苹果公司计划将中国纳入备受期待的新苹果手机首波发行国家之中。

　　But Apple is on the defensive⁷, whereas Tencent is firmly on the attack. 不过，苹果现在处于防御状态，腾讯则一直处于进攻状态。

　　Mr Brennan speculates that Tencent might even launch a WeChat phone, which would make Tencent's offering completely independent of the iPhone. Brennan预测腾讯甚至可能会推出微信手机，能够使腾讯推出的软件完全独立于苹果手机。

　　Anywhere else in the world, it would be foolish to go up against the Californian giant. 无论哪个国家的公司，与苹果公司作对是不明智的。

　　In China, though, the native firm may have the advantage. 但是在中国，本土公司也许有优势。

　　As Connie Chan of Andreessen Horowitz, an investment fund in Silicon⁸ Valley, puts it: “Loyalty is much, much stronger to WeChat than to Apple in China.” 硅谷的Andreessen Horowitz（一家风险投资基金公司）的Connie Chan 讲到：在中国，用户对于微信的忠诚要比苹果强的多。

1 hostilities   

n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事

参考例句：

• Mexico called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. 墨西哥要求立即停止敌对行动。
• All the old hostilities resurfaced when they met again. 他们再次碰面时，过去的种种敌意又都冒了出来。

2 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

4 rumours   

n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 )；风闻；谣言；谣传

参考例句：

• The rumours were completely baseless. 那些谣传毫无根据。
• Rumours of job losses were later confirmed. 裁员的传言后来得到了证实。

5 swirling   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Snowflakes were swirling in the air. 天空飘洒着雪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She smiled, swirling the wine in her glass. 她微笑着，旋动着杯子里的葡萄酒。 来自辞典例句

6 fortify   

v.强化防御，为…设防；加强，强化

参考例句：

• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。
• This treaty forbade the United States to fortify the canal.此条约禁止美国对运河设防。

7 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

8 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。