三星搶在蘋果前在華髮售新機

Samsung Electronics’ new high-end smartphone will go on sale in China early next week, ahead of any other market except South Korea, as the company tries to steal a march on Apple’s new iPhones and halt its sliding share of the world’s biggest mobile phone market.

三星電子(Samsung Electronics)最新款的高端智能手機下週初起將在中國發售。該款手機將在韓國首發，緊接着便來到中國，早於其他任何一個海外市場。三星此舉的用意是搶在蘋果(Apple)新款iPhone之前進入中國市場，同時終止自身在這個全球最大手機市場份額不斷下滑的態勢。

Samsung, the world’s leading smartphone producer by sales, has lost market share in China over the past two years to cheaper homegrown rivals, and in the second quarter gave up the top spot, according to leading research firms.

按銷量計算，三星是全球第一大智能手機生產商。然而根據主要研究公司的數據，最近兩年來，三星在中國的市場份額被更爲廉價的中國本土廠商不斷蠶食，今年第二季度甚至丟掉了市場老大的寶座。

The Galaxy Note 4 is an upgraded model of Samsung’s large-screen “phablet”. It will go on sale in South Korea on Friday and in China before the end of the month, Samsung said on Wednesday, marking the first time the South Korean smartphone maker has given China priority over other export markets with a new device in the flagship Galaxy range.

Galaxy Note 4是三星大屏“平板手機”的升級版。三星於週三表示，該款手機將於週五在韓國發售，並將於本月底以前在中國發售。這標誌着，三星在推出旗艦Galaxy系列的最新款機型時，首次把中國市場擺在了其他出口市場之前。

Samsung unveiled the Note 4 on September 4, just five days before Apple announced the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The latter is Apple’s first foray into the phablet segment, which Samsung has dominated since launching the first Galaxy Note in 2011.

三星在9月4日發佈Note 4，五天後，蘋果發佈了iPhone 6和iPhone 6 Plus。iPhone 6 Plus是蘋果首次推出的平板手機產品，而三星自2011年推出首部Galaxy Note以來，一直在這個領域佔據主導地位。

Apple says it sold 10m of the new iPhones in the three days after their September 19 launch – a record for the company despite the fact that the phones are not yet for sale in China, where regulators have yet to give final approval for the devices.

蘋果表示，新款iPhone在9月19日上市後，三天裏銷售了1000萬部。由於中國相關主管部門仍未最終批准這兩款手機在中國上市，新款iPhone並未在華出售。儘管如此，蘋果公司這次還是創下了iPhone的最佳銷售紀錄。

While Samsung’s early launch of the Note 4 in China could help mitigate the threat from Apple to its phablet market share, analysts say a more serious problem for Samsung is the success of lower cost Chinese competitors.

三星搶先在華推出Note 4，可能會有助於減輕蘋果對其平板手機市場份額的威脅。然而分析師表示，對三星來說，更嚴重的問題是成本較低的中國競爭對手所取得的成功。

“Chinese phones with the same functions as Samsung’s phones may cost only Rmb3,500 ($570), while Samsung’s cost Rmb5,300,” said Wang Yanhui, secretary-general of the Mobile Phone China Alliance, an industry group. He warned that many Chinese consumers did not consider Samsung’s phones, with impressive technical specifications but pedestrian plastic exteriors, as deserving of a premium price tag.

手機中國聯盟(Mobile Phone China Alliance)祕書長王豔輝表示：“與同樣功能的三星手機相比，國產手機的價格可能只有3500元人民幣（合570美元），而三星手機的價格卻高達5300元人民幣。”他警告說，許多中國消費者認爲三星手機不值那麼多錢，因爲儘管三星手機的技術規格令人印象深刻，卻配了乏味的塑料外殼。

“If it cannot lower its prices, Samsung’s market share in China will soon be washed away by Chinese competitors,” Mr Wang said.

王豔輝表示：“如果三星不降價，它在中國的市場份額將很快被中國競爭對手搶光。”

Samsung accounted for nearly a quarter of mobile phone sales in China in late 2011, but that fell to 12 per cent in the third quarter of this year as Samsung was overtaken by Chinese rival Xiaomi, according to the research group Canalys. A separate report from IDC also said Samsung had lost its leading position in the third quarter, but named Lenovo as the new top seller.

根據研究機構Canalys的數據，2011年末，三星佔了中國手機銷量近四分之一的份額，但今年第三季度卻下滑到12%，其市場地位被中國小米(Xiaomi)超過。由IDC發佈的另一份報告也表示，三星在今年第三季度失去了市場領導地位，不過該報告表示新的銷量冠軍是聯想(Lenovo)。

The problems in China have contributed to a broader slowdown for Samsung, which has reported three consecutive quarterly declines in operating profit including a 24 per cent fall in the second quarter.

在中國遭遇的問題導致了三星整體業績的放緩，其營業利潤連續三個季度出現下滑，在今年第二季度下降幅度達到24%。

However, Lee Don-joo, president of strategic marketing at Samsung’s mobile phone division, said business conditions were “temporarily difficult”, predicting the Note 4 would “far outsell its predecessor”.

然而，三星手機部門戰略營銷總裁李唐珠(Lee Don-joo)卻表示，三星手機業務狀況只是遭遇了“暫時的困難”，並預言Note 4“銷量將遠超上個版本”。

Samsung shipped 10m units of the Note 3 to vendors in the first two months after its launch last year.

Note 3於去年上市，在頭兩個月裏，三星向經銷商交付了1000萬部該款手機。

“We expect earnings to recover soon, given our technological innovation and strong fundamentals,” Mr Lee said.

李唐珠表示：“考慮到我們的技術創新及堅實基礎，我們預計盈利將很快恢復。”