微软收购诺基亚手机业务

 　　RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: Nokia was once the largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world and the most valuable company in Europe, making it a veritable icon¹ in its home base of Finland. But the rise of Apple and Android smartphones knocked the company on its heels. Now comes news that Microsoft is buying Nokia's mobile phone business for $7.2 billion. NPR's Steve Henn joins us now to explain the details of the deal. Good morning.

　　STEVE HENN, BYLINE²: Good morning.

　　MONTAGNE: What is Microsoft getting, here?

　　HENN: Well, it will get Nokia's entire smartphone business, as well as Nokia's large feature phone business. Nokia still sells more than 50 million feature phones a year. Microsoft will also inherit close to 32,000 employees who are based all over the world, including 18,000 who work in manufacturing. You know, and Nokia was one of the oldest and most-storied mobile phone companies on the planet, so Microsoft is paying close to $2.2 billion as part of this deal to license³ tens of thousands of important mobile phone technology patents. It's also buying a license to use Nokia's mapping service here.

　　MONTAGNE: So you're describing something here that sounds like a huge deal.

　　HENN: It is a big deal within the industry, and it's not just a big deal for these two companies. If you're Samsung or HTC and you make smartphones, suddenly, every company out there that makes software for smartphones now owns its own device manufacturer. It's kind of like getting caught standing⁴ in a game of musical chairs.

　　MONTAGNE: You mentioned 32,000 Nokia employees will now be working for Microsoft. I gather one of them will be the now-former CEO of Nokia.

　　HENN: That's right: Stephen Elop. You know, it was only three years ago that Elop left Microsoft to take the job as CEO of Nokia. And shortly after arriving, he wrote this devastating⁵ memo⁶. It's called the - it's known as the burning platform memo, where he compared the company's situation to a crew of oil workers standing on a burning oil platform in the North Sea. You know, he said they were losing market share to rivals like iPhone and Android, and that they had no other choice but to jump, to abandon their software platform and to adopt Microsoft Windows phone as their new base of operations.

　　Nokia was the only large phone maker⁷ in the world to commit to selling Microsoft's phones, and in effect, Elop tied his new company to the fate of Microsoft's mobile phone business. It didn't go well, and now three years later, Microsoft is buying that business, and Elop will return to his former employer. Elop is not loved in Finland. While he was presiding at Nokia, lots of jobs were lost, the stock price tanked, the country lost a lot of tax revenue. But he did do one thing: He was able to preserve some value in Nokia's brand. And one really fascinating nuance⁸ of this is that now Stephen Elop has emerged as one of the leading contenders to replace Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer, who just announced just recently that he's going to retire.

　　MONTAGNE: Let's get to what this means for consumers.

　　HENN: Well, for consumers, it's probably a good thing. By buying Nokia, Microsoft is ensuring that there are going to be three viable⁹ choices in the market for smartphones, instead of just two with Google's Android and Apple's iPhone. You know, Nokia was burning through its cash. Many people expected it to run out of cash some time in 2014. And without a lifeline from Microsoft, really, the future for Nokia wasn't bright.

　　But without Nokia, Microsoft's future in the smartphone market wasn't very bright, either. There aren't very many companies that have fully¹⁰ committed to selling their smartphones. So Microsoft's CEO, Steve Ballmer, has been saying for more than a year that he wanted to make Microsoft a devices-and services business. This deal, when it closes, will actually do that. Microsoft will soon be making millions of devices each year.

　　MONTAGNE: Steve, thanks very much.

　　HENN: My pleasure.

　　MONTAGNE: That's NPR's Steve Henn.

1 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

6 memo   

n.照会，备忘录；便笺；通知书；规章

参考例句：

• Do you want me to send the memo out?您要我把这份备忘录分发出去吗？
• Can you type a memo for me?您能帮我打一份备忘录吗？

7 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

8 nuance   

n.(意义、意见、颜色)细微差别

参考例句：

• These users will easily learn each nuance of the applications they use.这些用户会很快了解他们所使用程序的每一细微差别。
• I wish I hadn't become so conscious of every little nuance.我希望我不要变得这样去思索一切琐碎之事。

9 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

10 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。