蘋(píng)果與好萊塢娛樂(lè)公司合作談判擱淺

Apple was an early pioneer in the digital distribution of music and video with the iTunes store. But will it be a player in the next phase of content distribution?

蘋(píng)果(Apple)憑借iTunes Store成了數(shù)字化發(fā)行音樂(lè)和視頻的先驅(qū)，但它會(huì)是下一階段內(nèi)容發(fā)行的參與者嗎?

The iPhone maker has been stalking Hollywood for more than a year, talking to leading industry players while it tries to formulate a cogent video strategy. It has considered a range of acquisitions and targets including, most recently, Imagine Entertainment, the Hollywood production company owned by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, according to several people briefed on the discussions.

一年多以來(lái)，這家iPhone制造商一直在暗中接近好萊塢，與一些行業(yè)領(lǐng)軍公司展開(kāi)磋商，并試圖制定一個(gè)站得住腳的視頻戰(zhàn)略。一些獲知了這些磋商概況的人士表示，蘋(píng)果已考慮一系列收購(gòu)活動(dòng)，最近的目標(biāo)是好萊塢制片公司Imagine Entertainment，該公司的所有者為羅恩•霍華德(Ron Howard)和布賴恩•格雷茲(Brian Grazer)。

The talks were serious enough to involve Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, and Eddy Cue, its senior vice-president of internet software and services. The talks included a possible “first look” distribution deal of Imagine movies and television shows, as well as an investment by Apple — or even a full purchase. But, as with many other potential deals involving Apple, the discussions fizzled out.

蘋(píng)果對(duì)與Imagine的磋商相當(dāng)重視，表現(xiàn)在首席執(zhí)行官蒂姆•庫(kù)克(Tim Cook)和負(fù)責(zé)互聯(lián)網(wǎng)軟件與服務(wù)的高級(jí)副總裁埃迪•庫(kù)埃(Eddie Cue)都參與了磋商。磋商內(nèi)容包括對(duì)Imagine影視作品的“先睹為快”(first look)發(fā)行協(xié)議，以及蘋(píng)果可能會(huì)入股、甚至全資收購(gòu)Imagine。但就像蘋(píng)果參與的其他許多潛在交易一樣，這些商議失敗了。

Imagine, the producer of films ranging from Apollo 13 and The Da Vinci Code to television shows such as Empire, recently came to the end of a long-term production and distribution deal with Universal Pictures, which is part of Comcast’s NBCUniversal group. A tie-up with Apple, on paper, at least, would have made some sense.

Imagine出品過(guò)的電影有《阿波羅13號(hào)》( Apollo 13)、《達(dá)芬奇密碼》(The Da Vinci Code)，電視劇有《嘻哈帝國(guó)》(Empire)，該制片公司與環(huán)球影業(yè)(Universal Pictures)的長(zhǎng)期制作和發(fā)行協(xié)議最近到期——環(huán)球影業(yè)隸屬康卡斯特(Comcast)旗下NBC環(huán)球(NBC Universal)集團(tuán)。與蘋(píng)果聯(lián)姻至少在理論上是有些道理的。

But then, Time Warner, which Mr Cue approached last year about a possible takeover, would have made sense too. Must-have Time Warner content, like HBO’s Game of Thrones, or hit Warner Brothers movies, could have underpinned an Apple video subscription service, strengthening the link between the device maker and its customers.

不過(guò)蘋(píng)果與時(shí)代華納(Time Warner)聯(lián)姻也應(yīng)該是合乎邏輯的，庫(kù)埃去年曾帶著收購(gòu)意愿接觸過(guò)時(shí)代華納。時(shí)代華納旗下不可錯(cuò)過(guò)的內(nèi)容產(chǎn)品，如HBO的《權(quán)力的游戲》(Game of Thrones)、華納兄弟(Warner Brothers)的熱門(mén)電影，或許可以支撐起蘋(píng)果的視頻訂閱服務(wù)，加強(qiáng)這家設(shè)備制造商與其客戶之間的聯(lián)系。

Apple has continued to have discussions with potential Hollywood partners. But instead of buying a company, it has put its efforts into just a couple of original series: Carpool Karaoke, a spin-off of the popular segment on James Corden’s Late Late Show, and a reality show called Planet of the Apps. Apple will use the shows to differentiate Apple Music, its streaming service that competes with Spotify.

蘋(píng)果仍在與潛在的好萊塢合作伙伴進(jìn)行商議，但其重點(diǎn)已經(jīng)不是要購(gòu)買(mǎi)一家公司，而是放在了幾個(gè)原創(chuàng)節(jié)目上：“拼車(chē)K歌”(Carpool Karaoke)，該節(jié)目衍生自《詹姆士科登深夜秀》(James Corden’s Late Late Show)中一個(gè)受歡迎橋段;以及“Planet of the Apps”真人秀。蘋(píng)果將用這些原創(chuàng)節(jié)目讓Apple Music與眾不同——Apple Music是蘋(píng)果的流媒體服務(wù)，競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手為Spotify。

At the Code Media conference in southern California this week, Mr Cue played down the notion that Apple would ever buy a media company. “We’re not out trying to buy a bunch of shows, we’re trying to do some things that are creative, that can, we think, move culture,” he said. On Apple’s recent earnings call, Mr Cook said the company has a “toe in the water” in terms of original content.

本周在加州南部舉行的Code Media會(huì)議上，庫(kù)埃給蘋(píng)果早晚會(huì)購(gòu)買(mǎi)一家媒體公司的看法潑了一盆冷水，他說(shuō)：“我們不打算去買(mǎi)一大堆節(jié)目，我們正嘗試做一些有創(chuàng)意的東西，我們認(rèn)為這些東西可以改變文化。”在蘋(píng)果最近的財(cái)報(bào)電話會(huì)議上，庫(kù)克表示公司已“試水”原創(chuàng)內(nèi)容。

This approach has many in Hollywood scratching their heads. Apple’s rounds of meetings with various entertainment industry players suggest it has not yet decided what its strategy should be.

這種方式讓好萊塢的許多人士摸不著頭腦。蘋(píng)果與各大娛樂(lè)公司一輪輪的會(huì)面表明，它尚未決定自己應(yīng)采取什么樣的策略。

It has the firepower to do something meaningful in content production and distribution — a space that is increasingly dominated by Netflix and Amazon. They have each invested billions of dollars in original programming: Netflix has built a global subscriber base of 93m while Amazon’s Prime service and its exclusive original content make people likely to spend in its online store.

蘋(píng)果有實(shí)力在內(nèi)容制作和發(fā)行方面有所作為，這一領(lǐng)域正日益被Netflix和亞馬遜(Amazon)主導(dǎo)。兩家公司都在原創(chuàng)節(jié)目上投入了數(shù)十億美元：Netflix已在全球建立了高達(dá)9300萬(wàn)的訂閱用戶基數(shù)，而亞馬遜的“Prime service”和獨(dú)家原創(chuàng)內(nèi)容促進(jìn)人們?cè)谄湓诰€商店中消費(fèi)。

Apple could get up to speed by buying a company. Or it could follow Amazon’s model: hire the right talent and give them the backing to get the ball rolling. Amazon made no films in 2015; it released 15 in 2016 and has seven Oscar nominations to show for it, including a best picture nomination for Manchester by the Sea.

蘋(píng)果可以通過(guò)購(gòu)買(mǎi)一家公司跟上速度。或者，可以效仿亞馬遜的模式：聘用合適的人才，并給予他們啟動(dòng)項(xiàng)目的相應(yīng)支持。亞馬遜2015年沒(méi)有制作任何電影;但在2016年發(fā)行了15部影片，獲得7項(xiàng)奧斯卡提名，包括《海邊的曼徹斯特》(Manchester by the Sea)獲得的最佳影片獎(jiǎng)提名。

Apple’s stock recently hit an all-time high — and a market value of $700bn — on hopes that the launch of a new iPhone will drive a sales “supercycle”. The prospect of its $230bn overseas cash pile being repatriated to the US under the new Trump administration is also fuelling investor optimism.

蘋(píng)果的股價(jià)最近再創(chuàng)新高、市值達(dá)7000億美元，原因是外界期望新款iPhone的推出將帶動(dòng)一波銷(xiāo)售“超級(jí)周期”。對(duì)蘋(píng)果將在新的特朗普政府時(shí)期把在海外積累的2300億美元現(xiàn)金匯回國(guó)內(nèi)的預(yù)期，也加大了投資者的樂(lè)觀情緒。

The company has set a target of doubling its revenues from services, such as the Apps Store and Apple Music, to about $50bn in the next four years.

蘋(píng)果已經(jīng)確立了在未來(lái)4年將來(lái)自服務(wù)業(yè)務(wù)——如Apps Store和Apple Music——的收入翻倍至約500億美元的目標(biāo)。

It is hard to believe it will reach that target without doing something more meaningful in video. But it may have missed a trick, given broad, global changes in audience behaviour. People increasingly get their entertainment from video subscription services — and they need devices like those made by Apple to watch them.

如果不在視頻領(lǐng)域大有作為的話，很難相信蘋(píng)果能實(shí)現(xiàn)這一目標(biāo)。但鑒于全球觀眾觀影行為的廣泛變化，蘋(píng)果可能已經(jīng)錯(cuò)失了一個(gè)良機(jī)。人們?cè)絹?lái)越多地從視頻訂閱服務(wù)中獲得休閑娛樂(lè)，他們需要像蘋(píng)果制造的那樣的設(shè)備來(lái)觀看這些節(jié)目。

The late Steve Jobs always envisioned a closed environment where Apple’s software platform and device were tightly integrated. In not being more aggressive in video in the past two years, Netflix and Amazon have stolen a march on Apple. Will it come to regret it?

已故的史蒂夫•喬布斯(Steve Jobs)一直設(shè)想建立一個(gè)讓蘋(píng)果的軟件平臺(tái)和設(shè)備緊密融合的封閉環(huán)境。由于蘋(píng)果過(guò)去兩年未在視頻領(lǐng)域更積極地進(jìn)行擴(kuò)張，Netflix和亞馬遜已經(jīng)搶到了蘋(píng)果前面。蘋(píng)果會(huì)為此而追悔嗎?