中國智能手機(jī)企業(yè)加快進(jìn)軍歐洲

Chinese handset makers, having won over users at home and in emerging markets, are making a push into Europe with Xiaomi — once the world’s most valuable unicorn — preparing to ship “hundreds of thousands” of phones to Spain.

已在國內(nèi)和新興市場贏得用戶的中國手機(jī)企業(yè)開始涌向歐洲。作為曾經(jīng)全球估值最高的“獨(dú)角獸”企業(yè)，小米(Xiaomi)正準(zhǔn)備把“數(shù)十萬部”手機(jī)發(fā)往西班牙。

Xiaomi, like peers Huawei, Oppo and Vivo, is banking on its sophisticated handsets and cheaper price tags to win share from global giants Apple and Samsung. By some measures, Chinese smartphone makers are catching up fast: Counterpoint consultancy puts Huawei’s global market share in the third quarter at 9.8 per cent to 11.7 per cent for Apple — although that is the quarter when Apple buyers may have held off ahead of the new iPhone launch.

像同行華為(Huawei)、Oppo和Vivo一樣，小米正利用其尖端手機(jī)和較低價(jià)格從全球巨頭蘋果(Apple)和三星(Samsung)手中搶奪份額。以某些標(biāo)準(zhǔn)衡量，中國智能手機(jī)企業(yè)正在快速趕上來：咨詢公司Counterpoint認(rèn)為，第三季度華為的全球市場份額為9.8%，蘋果則為11.7%——不過在第三季度，有些蘋果買家也許為等待新iPhone發(fā)布而沒有出手。

Speaking ahead of a trip to Madrid, Wang Xiang, who will head up Xiaomi’s global expansion, said the move into western Europe was a milestone. “Spain is our first stop in the developed market,” he said.

將出任小米全球業(yè)務(wù)負(fù)責(zé)人的王翔在前往馬德里之前表示，進(jìn)入西歐是個(gè)里程碑。“西班牙是我們進(jìn)入發(fā)達(dá)國家市場的第一站，”他說。

Vivo, for its part, is targeting Russia as its first foray into Europe. Xiaomi, Vivo and stablemate Oppo have been hugely successful in India, a market where Chinese handset makers dominate. While Xiaomi has come undone in the past from its bold ambitions, it has turned round its fortunes.

Vivo正瞄準(zhǔn)俄羅斯作為進(jìn)入歐洲的第一個(gè)目標(biāo)。小米、Vivo和Oppo已在印度取得了巨大成功。目前，中國手機(jī)廠商主宰了印度市場。盡管小米過去未能實(shí)現(xiàn)其大膽的目標(biāo)，但已扭轉(zhuǎn)了其命運(yùn)。

To smooth their path into developed markets, Chinese companies are banking on patent acquisition and the growth of online sales and marketing.

為了順利切入發(fā)達(dá)國家市場，中國企業(yè)正借道于專利收購，以及在線銷售與營銷的發(fā)展。

“One of the advantages is that there’s no national border in the internet world,” said Mr Wang. “The European continent is all connected, so if we can do well in Spain, other western European countries will be much easier for us; [it’s] just a matter of time.“

“優(yōu)勢(shì)之一是互聯(lián)網(wǎng)世界里沒有國界，”王翔說，“目前，歐洲大陸已全部聯(lián)網(wǎng)在一起，所以，如果我們?cè)谖靼嘌滥茏龅煤?，那么其他西歐國家對(duì)我們來說也將容易得多;(這)只是個(gè)時(shí)間問題。”

In the past, he said, observers had highlighted Xiaomi’s patent issues. “But over the past three years, we made big progress in patents. We have applied for 16,000 to 18,000 patents and we have got over 4,800 patents around the world, also including the patents we acquired from Intel and Nokia.”

他說，過去觀察人士一直在強(qiáng)調(diào)小米的專利問題。“過去3年，我們?cè)趯＠矫嫒〉昧司薮筮M(jìn)展。我們申請(qǐng)了1.6萬至1.8萬項(xiàng)專利，目前在全世界擁有超過4800項(xiàng)專利，其中也包括我們向英特爾(Intel)和諾基亞(Nokia)購買的專利。”

However, analysts see patents as one of the biggest tripwires for Chinese device makers. Pointing to the big troves of intellectual property held by the likes of Ericsson and Nokia, Counterpoint research director Peter Richardson noted that “Europe is an environment where IP is asserted very strongly and they are waiting for [Chinese players] to put their heads above the parapet and then clout them with IP lawsuits.”

然而，分析人士把專利視為中國手機(jī)廠商的最大難題之一。Counterpoint研究總監(jiān)彼得•理查森(Peter Richardson)提到了愛立信(Ericsson)和諾基亞等公司持有的海量知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)。他指出，“在歐洲的環(huán)境下，知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)得到強(qiáng)力維護(hù)，他們正等著(中國玩家)把頭探出護(hù)墻，然后用知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)訴訟攻擊這些玩家。”

Huawei has largely avoided this given its own large IP portfolio, he added. 他接著說，鑒于華為本身擁有龐大的知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)，該公司基本避免了這一難題。

As in other markets, Xiaomi plans to sell in Europe through both online platforms and physical stores.

正如在其他市場那樣，小米打算通過線上平臺(tái)和實(shí)體店兩個(gè)渠道進(jìn)行銷售。

Vivo and Huawei, meanwhile, have used splashy sponsorships and celebrity marketing to woo buyers overseas. Huawei has co-opted actress Scarlett Johansson while Vivo has gone for sport, sponsoring the Indian Premier League in 2015 and will sponsor the Fifa World Cup until 2023.

另一方面，Vivo和華為利用引人注目的贊助和名人營銷去爭取海外買家。華為與斯嘉麗•約翰森(Scarlett Johansson)合作，而Vivo從體育方面入手，于2015年贊助了印度板球超級(jí)聯(lián)賽(Indian Premier League)，并將在2023年前一直贊助國際足聯(lián)世界杯(FIFA World Cup)。

“Overseas markets are very important to us,” said Alex Feng, a vice-president of international business at Vivo, which plans to launch in Africa early next year.

“海外市場對(duì)我們非常重要，”Vivo全球副總裁馮磊(Alex Feng)說。Vivo計(jì)劃在明年初進(jìn)軍非洲市場。

Huawei, which earns more than half its smartphone revenues from outside China, says it is winning share in European markets including Spain, Italy and Germany. It had a market share of nearly 15 per cent in western Europe last year, according to GfK analysts.

一半以上智能手機(jī)收入來自海外市場的華為表示，它正在包括西班牙、意大利和德國的歐洲市場贏得份額。GfK分析師表示，去年華為在西歐市場的份額接近15%。

The Shenzhen-based group, which also supplies telecoms kit, has benefited from bundled distribution deals with carriers. Xiaomi does not have this luxury, noted Ben Stanton, analyst at Canalys, “so its progress will not be as stunningly fast as Huawei’s. But as older brands such as Alcatel, HTC and LG Electronics . . . increasingly fall out of carrier portfolios, Xiaomi has an opportunity to step up and fill this gap.”

這家也供應(yīng)電信設(shè)備的深圳集團(tuán)受益于跟運(yùn)營商之間簽訂的捆綁銷售協(xié)議。Canalys的分析師本•斯坦頓(Ben Stanton)指出，小米享受不到這一條件，“所以，它的進(jìn)展將不如華為那樣快得令人吃驚。但是，隨著阿爾卡特(Alcatel)、HTC和LG電子(LG Electronics)……等更老品牌日益掉出運(yùn)營商的供貨商名單，小米有機(jī)會(huì)加快步伐，填補(bǔ)這一空白。”