Lex專欄：中美5G之爭(zhēng)

Qualcomm is under attack for its dominant position in intellectual property for mobile chips. On Wednesday the US chipmaker was hit with a T$23.4bn (US$774m) fine by Taiwan’s Fair Trade Commission.

高通(Qualcomm)在移動(dòng)芯片知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)領(lǐng)域占據(jù)著主導(dǎo)地位，這使它受到了攻擊。周三，這家美國(guó)芯片制造商被臺(tái)灣公平交易委員會(huì)(Fair Trade Commission)罰款234億新臺(tái)幣(合7.74億美元)。

A lower-profile skirmish over chips for the forthcoming 5G standard could be more consequential, however. China is pushing for a bigger share in the design of the next generation of mobile data services. If it succeeds, Qualcomm will be hurt, equipment makers such as ZTE and Huawei will benefit and operators such as China Mobile will pay the bill.

不過(guò)，一場(chǎng)不那么熱鬧的圍繞5G芯片的爭(zhēng)執(zhí)才是重頭戲——目前5G標(biāo)準(zhǔn)尚未制定出來(lái)。中國(guó)正力爭(zhēng)在下一代移動(dòng)數(shù)據(jù)服務(wù)的設(shè)計(jì)方面占據(jù)更大份額。如果中國(guó)成功了，高通將受到?jīng)_擊，中興(ZTE)和華為(Huawei)等設(shè)備制造商將會(huì)受益，而中國(guó)移動(dòng)(China Mobile)等運(yùn)營(yíng)商將為此買單。

The US chip group owns 12.5 per cent of patents essential for the current 4G standard, according to Jefferies. Qualcomm recorded royalty revenues of $4.4bn in the nine months to June. China is the largest mobile market — China Mobile alone has 873m customers — but the nation’s share of intellectual property has historically been small.

據(jù)杰富瑞(Jefferies)估算，現(xiàn)行4G標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的核心專利中，12.5%由高通所有。在截至今年6月的9個(gè)月內(nèi)，這家美國(guó)集團(tuán)的專利費(fèi)收入高達(dá)44億美元。中國(guó)是全球最大的移動(dòng)市場(chǎng)——僅中國(guó)移動(dòng)就擁有8.73億用戶——但在知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)方面，中國(guó)擁有的份額一直很小。

The intellectual future involves more Sino influence. China owns a tenth of essential 5G patents, Jefferies notes. The country has moved to strengthen its role in the international regulatory bodies. So much so that US officials have complained about efforts by “authoritarian governments” to influence future networks.

未來(lái)中國(guó)在知識(shí)領(lǐng)域?qū)碛懈笥绊懥Α＝芨蝗鹬赋?，在現(xiàn)有的5G核心專利中，中國(guó)擁有其中的十分之一。中國(guó)已著手增強(qiáng)自身在國(guó)際監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)中的作用，美國(guó)官員還因此抱怨“一些威權(quán)政府”力圖影響未來(lái)的網(wǎng)絡(luò)。

The future of the standard rests in large part on the international co-operation necessary to make sure devices and protocols work across borders. The most basic difference between the approaches of the two countries concerns which frequencies 5G should use. US companies claim an advantage in high frequency millimetre waves. China will likely aim to be a first mover with its lower frequency approach, in hopes of swaying undecided countries.

未來(lái)5G標(biāo)準(zhǔn)會(huì)是什么樣，在很大程度上取決于為確保設(shè)備和協(xié)議可以跨境通用所需采取的國(guó)際合作。中美模式最根本的區(qū)別在于5G技術(shù)應(yīng)該采用什么頻率。美國(guó)企業(yè)聲稱，高頻毫米波存在優(yōu)勢(shì)。而中國(guó)可能想憑借其較低頻率的模式成為一個(gè)先行者，希望以此影響那些尚未拿定主意的國(guó)家。

Mobile operators will have to bear most of the costs of implementation — estimated at Rmb1.65tn ($250bn) to 2025 by government researchers. Equipment manufacturers and patent owners will benefit via higher royalties. Shares in ZTE more than doubled this year. Investors betting on the group must simultaneously believe in the success of China’s patent push.

移動(dòng)運(yùn)營(yíng)商將不得不承擔(dān)大部分實(shí)施成本——據(jù)政府研究人員估計(jì)，到2025年需耗資1.65萬(wàn)億元人民幣(合2500億美元)。設(shè)備制造商和專利所有者將受益于更高的專利費(fèi)用。今年以來(lái)，中興的股價(jià)已上漲了一倍多。那些押注中興的投資者，必然也相信中國(guó)在專利方面的努力將會(huì)取得成功。