他她話題:日本電子巨頭爲何敗給iPhone(上)?

The first floor of the Bic Camera electronics store, a mammoth eight-story building covering an entire block here, is ground zero for Japan's electronics industry.

日本家電連鎖巨頭Bic Camera在東京的門店是一幢八層樓的建築，佔滿整個街區，這裏的一樓堪稱日本整個電子產業的風向標。

Flat-panel television sets, most bearing Japanese brands, have long filled the north end of the sales floor, where the store's best-selling products reside.

長期以來，Bic Camera一樓專門陳列最暢銷商品的北區都是由平板電視機佔據，其中大多爲日本品牌。

These days, amid slumping sales, the rows of TVs are relegated to the store's cramped second-floor quarters to make room for hundreds of accessories for smartphones - specifically the distinctively non-Japanese iPhone from Apple Inc.

最近，由於銷售遲滯，這些電視機被挪到了狹窄擁擠的二樓，讓位於數百款智能手機配件，這裏的智能手機具體是指明顯並非日本品牌的蘋果公司(Apple Inc.) iPhone系列。

The store's decision shows the what has befallen Japan's technology industry. Once-powerful electronics conglomerates, which bet it all on TVs and missed the smartphone wave, are on the outside looking in.

這種變化折射出日本科技產業的境遇。曾經盛極一時的電子業巨頭們把寶都押在了電視機上，錯過了智能手機發展的浪潮，如今只能無奈地袖手旁觀。

Smartphones are now playing center stage in the consumer-electronics world, not only delivering staggering sales growth, but also cannibalizing sales of digital cameras, portable game machines and other strongholds of Japanese electronics.

智能手機如今佔據了消費電子產品行業的中心地位，不僅銷售增長異常強勁，而且還擠佔了數碼相機、便攜式遊戲機和其他一些重要的日本電子產品的銷售。

Today Apple and Samsung Electronics Co.'s are enjoying record profits and are combining for some 54% of global smartphone shipments in the first quarter, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.

如今，蘋果公司和三星電子(Samsung Electronics Co.)賺取了空前的利潤，根據調研公司Strategy Analytics的數據，兩家公司在第一季度合計佔全球智能手機出貨量的54%左右。

The combined share for Sony Corp., Panasonic Corp., Sharp Corp., Fujitsu Ltd. and other Japanese manufacturers: 8%.

而索尼(Sony Corp.)、松下(Panasonic Corp.)、夏普(Sharp Corp.)、富士通(Fujitsu Ltd.)等日本廠商合計所佔的份額只有8%。

In an effort to catch up, Japanese companies are redoubling their smartphone push with varying degrees of ambition.

不甘落後的日本企業懷着不同程度的雄心，加倍努力地發展其智能手機業務。

Sony is making the most aggressive move among Japanese brands after failing to dent the market in the past decade through its troubled Sony Ericsson joint venture. No longer bound to that partnership, Sony Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai has pledged to make smartphones a pillar of its business.

其中，索尼一馬當先，步伐最大。過去十年，索尼未能通過其陷入困境的合資公司索尼愛立信(Sony Ericsson)在手機市場創出輝煌。現在，擺脫合作夥伴後，索尼的首席執行長平井一夫(Kazuo Hirai)立志要將智能手機發展爲索尼的一大支柱業務。

Panasonic, Fujitsu and Sharp - the top three domestic handset manufacturers - are looking at a modest return to the global scene after all but backing out during the early age of so-called 'feature phones.'

三大本土手機廠商松下、富士通和夏普錯過了“功能型手機”在全球的早期發展機會，現在也都在考慮適度迴歸國際舞臺。

But a full-fledged global push won't be easy, especially in such a cutthroat industry that requires constant innovation.

但要在全球市場全面推進並不容易，尤其是對於這樣一個競爭殘酷、需要不斷創新的行業而言。

'Both at home and abroad, we are in a tough situation' with smartphones, says Panasonic Managing Director Hideaki Kawai, who oversees the company's finances.

松下負責財政事務的董事總經理河井英明(Hideaki Kawai)說，在智能手機方面，“不論國內還是國外，我們的處境都很艱難”。

People in and outside the industry cite a number of factors for why Japanese companies missed the trend: Too much focus on the domestic market; too slow and inflexible to adapt to dynamic conditions; a misread of consumer preferences and a dose of arrogance about hardware superiority.

行業內外的人士指出，有一系列因素導致了日本企業錯失良機：太過關注本土市場；對新形勢覺悟慢、應變死板；對消費者偏好判斷失誤，對自己在硬件方面的優勢過於自大。

Starting in the 1990s, Japanese cellphones were technological marvels packed with hardware breakthroughs. Sharp in 2000 was the world's first company to add a camera to a mobile phone.

從上世紀90年代開始，日本手機不斷實現硬件上的突破，創造一個又一個的技術奇蹟。2000年，夏普成爲全球首家在手機中配置攝像頭的企業。