中國需求放緩拖累全球智能手機市場
Growth in smartphone shipments is expected to slow substantially this year, as shipments to China, the world’s largest market for the devices, increase by just 1 per cent from last year.
由於發往中國的智能手機數量比去年只增長了1%，今年全球智能手機出貨量增速預計會大幅放緩。目前，中國是智能手機的全球最大市場。
Worldwide, smartphone shipments are forecast to grow 10.4 per cent in 2015 to 1.44bn units, according to the International Data Corporation, falling from 27.5 per cent growth in 2014. IDC announced a cut in its forecast, which was previously for a 11.3 per cent rise across the globe.
根據國際數據公司(IDC)的數據，在全球範圍內，預計2015年智能手機出貨量將增長10.4%，達到14.4億部。這一增長幅度低於2014年的27.5%。而IDC曾宣佈下調這一預計數字，此前該機構曾預測全球增長幅度爲11.3%。
IDC forecasts a big drop in growth in China, which received almost a third of all new smartphone shipments in 2014, with an increase of only 1.2 per cent year-on-year in 2015, down from 19.7 per cent in 2014.
IDC預計，中國市場的增長幅度將大幅下滑，2015年同比增長幅度將只有1.2%，大大低於2014年的19.7%。2014年，全球新出貨的智能手機曾有將近三分之一發往中國。
The widely followed forecasts were published a day after Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, insisted the iPhone maker was experiencing “strong growth” in China throughout July and August.
就在這一廣受關注的預期數字發佈前一天，蘋果(Apple)首席執行官蒂姆錠克(Tim Cook)曾堅稱，在整個七月和八月，這家iPhone製造商曾在中國經歷“強勁增長”。（《庫克一封郵件爲蘋果挽回780億美元市值》，FT中文網發表於2015年8月25日）
IDC does not break out an estimate for iPhone growth in China.
IDC並未公佈對iPhone在華增長幅度的估計。
Ryan Reith, programme director at IDC, said domestic growth overall in smartphones in China was slowing “significantly”. China would remain the largest market for smartphone volumes for some time but its market share was expected to fall to 23.1 per cent in 2019, according to IDC.
IDC項目主任瑞安裏思(Ryan Reith)表示，智能手機在中國國內的總體增長速度正在“顯著”放緩。根據IDC的說法，中國在一段時間內還將是智能手機銷量的第一大市場，不過它的市場份額預計會在2019年滑落至23.1%。
“India has captured a lot of the attention that China previously received and it’s now the market with the most potential upside,” he said. “The interesting thing to watch will be the possibility of manufacturing moving from China and Vietnam over to India.”
他說：“印度已將中國此前曾收到的許多注意力吸引過去。目前，印度是最具增長潛力的市場。而其中最值得關注的事情，將是製造業從中國和越南轉移至印度的可能性。”
IDC forecast Android would maintain more than 80 per cent of the global market as far out as 2019, as the markets with the biggest growth opportunity remain “extremely price sensitive”.
IDC預計，遠至2019年，Android仍將佔據全球市場逾80%的份額，因爲擁有最大增長機遇的市場仍“對價格極端敏感”。
“This isn’t to suggest that Apple’s success with the iPhone won’t continue, and IDC believes its efforts to maintain significantly higher margins compared to its competitors are much more valuable than chasing share,” the IDC report said.
IDC的報告表示：“這並不是說蘋果在iPhone上取得的成功無法持續。而且，IDC相信，比起追求市場份額，蘋果維持相對其對手高得多的利潤率要更有價值。”
Larger smartphones — often dubbed “phablets” because they appear to be a cross between a phone and a tablet — are forecast to grow 84 per cent in 2015, compared with last year, after Apple delivered the larger iPhone 6+. These devices, with display screens from 5.5 to 6 inches, are forecast to make up more than 70 per cent of smartphone shipments by 2019.
在蘋果發佈屏幕更大的iPhone 6 Plus之後，2015年大屏手機預計會比去年增長84%。由於這種大屏手機似乎是介於手機和平板電腦之間的產品，它們往往被稱爲“平板手機”(phablet)。這類手機的顯示屏在5.5英寸到6英寸之間，預計到2019年以前，它們會佔智能手機出貨量的超過70%。
