聯想摒棄"內容補貼"設備模式

Lenovo, the largest seller of personal computers, is spurning what Yang Yuanqing, chairman and chief executive, has described as the “so-called new business model” of content-subsidised hardware that has taken China by storm, and will stick with devices.

全球最大的個人計算機銷售商聯想(Lenovo)，正在摒棄被其董事長兼首席執行官楊元慶稱爲用內容補貼設備的“所謂的新業務模式”，將專注於設備。

Speaking yesterday, Mr Yang said Lenovo — which has made the jump into smartphones — would focus on developing devices with voice recognition.

楊元慶昨日在發表講話時表示，已大舉進軍智能手機業務的聯想，將致力於研發具有語音識別功能的設備。

The strategy, designed to carry the company into the post-smartphone era, is a test of Lenovo’s ability to evolve from its roots as the grandfather of China tech — it was founded in 1984 — to a landscape ruled by nimbler, rapidly developing rivals.

該戰略旨在將聯想帶入後智能手機時代，它將考驗創建於1984年的聯想作爲中國科技行業一家元老級公司，能否適應由更靈活和快速發展的競爭對手主導的環境？

Upstart Xiaomi, for example, last year became the largest seller of smartphones in China, based on a savvy internet-first marketing strategy and using content to sell phones.

例如，藉助精明的互聯網優先營銷策略，並利用內容來銷售手機，手機新貴小米去年成爲中國智能手機銷量最高的公司。

Lenovo executives privately chafe at the comparison, but the numbers illustrate the new order. Based on its last funding round, Xiaomi is worth $45bn — roughly three times Lenovo’s market capitalisation — despite the fact that it has less than one-third of the PC maker’s sales.

聯想高管私下裏對這種對比感到不滿，但數據揭示了新秩序。按照最近一輪的融資，小米的估值達到450億美元，差不多是聯想市值的3倍，儘管其銷售額不足聯想的三分之一。

“We’re going to show the world that innovation still matters,” Mr Yang said in an interview with the Financial Times at Lenovo’s inaugural Tech World expo in Beijing, where it unveiled a new logo.

聯想在北京舉行了首屆“聯想科技創新大會”(Lenovo Tech World)，並在會上發佈了新的標識。楊元慶在會上接受英國《金融時報》採訪時表示：“我們將向全世界表明，創新仍至關重要。”

“This is particularly important in China, where all the players are just focusing on the so-called new business model, to use the content and services to subsidise hardware.

“它在中國尤其重要。在中國，所有公司只是聚焦於所謂的新業務模式，使用內容和服務來補貼硬件。”

“We will tell the market and the world that this is not the only thing you should be focusing on. We should still focus on innovation, we should still focus on technology.”

“我們將告訴市場乃至世界，這不是你應該聚焦的唯一事情。我們仍應該聚焦於創新，我們仍應該聚焦於技術”。

Lenovo, which announced results last week, missed fiscal-year profit targets on the back of softening smartphone sales, and took its first tentative steps into the new era when it launched its first “wearable” internet device, a fitness band, in January.

聯想上週發佈了財報，由於智能手機銷售不佳，該公司未能實現本財年的利潤目標。聯想在今年1月發佈了一款智能腕帶，這是其首款“可穿戴”互聯網設備，從而向這個新時代試探性地邁出了第一步。

However, Mr Yang is candid regarding the fact that the company is still considering how best to tackle the new era following the smartphone boom of the past few years.

然而，楊元慶坦承，經過過去幾年的智能手機蓬勃發展，該公司仍在考慮如何最好地應對這個新時代。

He was also short on specifics about timing and nature of devices, but cited a five-pronged “smart connectivity” strategy focusing on voice-activated devices, services and access to personal data.

他也沒有透露推出新款設備的時機和性質，但指出了致力於語音操作設備、服務以及個人數據獲取的5點“智能互聯”戰略。

Many smartphone makers have begun to emulate the Xiaomi model, as have content producers. Lenovo’s video-streaming company LeTV launched smartphones based on the principle of hardware being a content “gateway”.

許多智能手機制造商開始效仿小米模式，內容製作商同樣如此。聯想旗下的視頻流公司樂視(LeTV)基於硬件是內容“門戶”的原則推出智能手機。

Mr Yang cited Amazon’s foray into the device business, as well as Google Nexus phones, to support his scepticism.

楊元慶以亞馬遜(Amazon)進軍設備業務以及谷歌(Google)推出Nexus手機來表明自己的懷疑是合理的。

“I don’t think that by now that model [Xiaomi’s] is a proven model,” he said. “They’re still a smartphone company. They’re not a content company.”

他說：“我認爲到現在爲止（小米的）那種模式還不是經過驗證的模式。它們仍是一家智能手機公司，它們不是內容公司。”

He added that Lenovo had learned some lessons.

他補充稱，聯想已汲取了一些教訓。

“When the internet becomes more and more popular, we must pay attention to how to leverage the internet to transform our business model. Lenovo is definitely also working on that.

“當互聯網越來越流行的時候，我們必須重視如何利用互聯網轉變我們的業務模式。聯想肯定也在這方面努力。”

“Obviously we think the people need both the device and the content, but different companies have different expertise and should focus on different things. 

“顯然，我們認爲人們既需要設備，也需要內容，但不同的公司有不同的專長，理應致力於不同的事情。”

“We should definitely focus on the devices and co-operate with content and service providers to ensure that our customers have the best experience.”

“我們當然應該致力於設備，並與內容和服務提供商合作，以確保我們的客戶有最佳的體驗。”