VOA慢速英语 Fast-moving Asian Phone Makers Gain on Apple

 

Apple announced its new iPhones last week, but competitors’ mobile phones can do many of the same things for less money.

苹果公司上周宣布推出新款iPhone，但是竞争对手的手机可以用更少的钱做到很多相同的事情。

The new iPhone 8 and X have wireless charging, edge-to-edge glass screen and dual cameras.

新款iPhone 8 和 X 拥有无线充电、无边框屏幕和双摄像头。

But all of these features are already available in smart phones from China’s Huawei and Oppo, and Korea’s Samsung.

但是这些功能已经在中国的华为、OPPO和韩国的三星智能手机上得到应用。

While Apple asks buyers to pay $1,000 for its high-end model, some Asian phone makers can offer similar features for less.

当苹果为其高端机型标出1000美元的售价时，一些亚洲手机制造商可以用更少的钱提供类似功能。

At one time, Chinese manufacturers copied features and designs from others to produce low-cost phones. But they have now added high-end features to their phones and they control nearly half the global mobile phone market.

中国制造商曾经一度靠山寨其它公司的功能和设计来生产廉价手机。但是他们现在已经在其手机上添加了高端功能，并且控制了全球近一半的手机市场。

MediaMarktSaturn is Europe’s biggest electronics seller. A spokesperson for the store told Reuters that, “Huawei is seen as a relevant competitor to Apple and Samsung (by) covering all major price points and placing big investments in marketing and sales.”

MediaMarktSaturn是欧洲最大的电子产品销售商。该商场的发言人对路透社表示：“华为覆盖了所有主要价位，并在市场营销和销售商投入巨资，被视为苹果和三星的重要竞争对手。”

She also said that the Chinese companies Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo and TCL were among the top-10 best-selling smartphones in its stores.

她还表示，中国的华为、中兴、联想和TCL公司在他们商场的手机销量位居前十。

Chinese manufacturers’ fast growth has been fueled by strong sales in China. But they now export 40 percent of their smartphones. That is almost double the number from just three years ago, according to the Hong Kong investment company CLSA.

香港投资公司里昂证券表示，中国制造商的快速发展受到了中国强劲销售的推动，但是他们目前出口了40%的手机，这几乎是三年前的一倍。

Huawei is currently the world’s third largest phone maker behind Samsung and Apple. According to research company Canalys, the Chinese company is getting closer to second-place Apple and might overtake it later this year.

华为目前是全球第三大手机厂商，位居三星和苹果之后。Canalys研究公司表示，这家中国公司越来越接近排名第二的苹果公司，并可能会在今年晚些时候完成超越。

The Chinese firm even made fun of Apple’s new facial recognition feature with a Facebook video “RealAIphone.” Huawei plans to show its top-of-the-line Mate 10 phone on Oct. 16. The phone will have artificial intelligence features such as instant translation and image recognition and will cost less than $1,000.

这家中国公司甚至在Facebook上发布了一则名为《RealAIphone》的视频，取笑苹果公司新的面部识别功能。华为计划在10月16日推出该公司顶级的Mate 10 手机。这款手机将具备人工智能功能，例如即时翻译和图像识别，售价可能低于1千美元。

Other Chinese companies are looking to enter the high-end smartphone market.

其它中国公司正在寻求进入高端智能手机市场。

Xiaomi, for example, showed a full-screen phone this month with all-ceramic ‘unibody’ design and 12-megapixel front camera. The special edition Mi MIX 2 sells for $720.

例如，小米公司本月推出了一款配备全陶瓷一体设计和1200万前置摄像头的全屏手机。这款特制版的Mi Mix2 售价为720美元。

Also, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo are working to add ultrasound sensors under smartphone screens to improve the touch function.

此外，小米、OPPO和VIVO都致力于在智能手机屏幕下添加超声波传感器以改善触摸功能。

Neil Shah is research director at the company Counterpoint. He said Chinese companies with a lot of sales are able to access many of the same parts for phones and offer many features. He said that has hurt Apple’s growth.

Neil Shah是Counterpoint公司的研究总监。他说，销量很大的中国公司有能力获得许多相同的手机组件并提供很多功能。他说，这已经损害到了苹果公司的增长。

Still a gap

仍有差距

However, Apple still has a big lead over its Chinese competitors in the high-end market. And few experts think Apple fans will switch from the iPhone X to Huawei’s Mate 10.

然而，苹果公司在高端市场仍然大幅领先于中国竞争对手。只有少数专家认为苹果手机的粉丝会从iPhone X 转投华为的Mate 10 。

The average selling price of smartphones from the top Chinese makers - Huawei, Oppo and Vivo - is just $248, or two-thirds less than the cheapest iPhone 8.

中国顶级制造商华为、OPPO和VIVO智能手机的平均售价只有248美元，比最便宜的iPhone 8还便宜2/3。

Apple has 63 percent of the market for phones priced higher than $600 compared to just 3 percent for Huawei, according to research from the Swiss bank UBS.

根据瑞银的研究，苹果公司在售价高于600美元的手机市场占有63%的份额，华为只占到3%。

“The biggest challenge they (Chinese firms) face would be proving to consumers their products and brand are worth paying that much for,” said Xiaohan Tay, an expert at the research firm IDC.

IDC研究公司专家Xiaohan Tay表示：“中国公司面临的最大挑战是向消费者证明，他们的产品和品牌物有所值。”

I’m Mario Ritter.

Words in This Story

edge-to-edge –adj. completely covering the front of the device

features –n. a quality or ability

high-end –adj. a costly line of products

relevant –adj. relating to something in a useful way

top-of-the-line –adj. the highest or most advanced product among those sold by a company

artificial intelligence –n. related to machines like computers that can copy intelligent human behavior

ceramic –n. made from clay

function –n. a special purpose or ability

challenge –n. something that is difficult to do

consumers –n. a person who buys good or services

brand –n. a set of products that have a name