蘋果(Apple)在華業務面臨的挑戰
Didi Chuxing, China’s largest ride-hailing company, has made no secret of its admiration for Apple. The company’s official name, Xiao Ju Keji, which means Little Orange Technology, is a reference to the US technology group. Visitors to Didi’s campus in Beijing are told how Cheng Wei, its founder, was looking at the logo on an Apple store and thought, “If I can’t be an apple, I can be an orange”.
作爲中國最大的打車應用公司，滴滴出行(Didi Chuxing)毫不掩飾自己對蘋果(Apple)的仰慕之情，該公司法定名字“小桔科技”就是參照了這家美國科技集團的名字。人們參觀滴滴出行在北京的公司園區時會被告知，其創始人程維曾在一家蘋果商店看着那個標識心想，“我當不了蘋果，可以當桔子嘛。”
That admiration seems to be working in both directions: Apple invested $1bn in Didi last week, its biggest minority investment ever.
而這種仰慕之情似乎是雙向的，上週蘋果向滴滴投資10億美元，這是蘋果迄今爲少數股權作出的最大單筆投資。
The deal is not a huge outlay for a company that has net cash of $153bn but it is an unusual move given that Apple has previously shied away from using its cash to invest in start-ups. Unlike other big tech companies, such as Google and Intel, which have active venture arms, Apple has a longstanding tradition of incubating new ideas in-house.
對於一家坐擁1530億美元現金的公司來說，這筆交易算不上鉅額投資，但考慮到蘋果此前不願動用現金投資於初創企業，這是一項不尋常的舉動。谷歌(Google)和英特爾(Intel)都有活躍的風投部門，但蘋果與其他科技巨頭不同，它有着從內部孵化新創意的悠久傳統。
The Didi investment also points to the growing list of challenges facing Apple in China, a country that has become increasingly important to its growth prospects. It could have wide ramifications for Apple’s efforts to move beyond the iPhone into services, say analysts.
對滴滴的這筆投資也反映出蘋果在華所面臨的越來越多的挑戰；中國市場對其增長前景正變得日益重要。分析師們表示，蘋果正在拓展關注點，使其超越iPhone，進入服務範疇，此舉或許對這方面的努力有廣泛影響。
For several years, China had been a key source of fresh demand for Apple as iPhone penetration reached saturation in more developed markets such as the US. But this reversed dramatically in the most recent quarter, when sales in greater China dropped 26 per cent, contributing to Apple’s first drop in revenues in more than a decade.
近年來，隨着iPhone在美國等較發達市場普及率達到飽和，中國一直是蘋果新需求的主要來源。但上季度該局面發生了戲劇性逆轉，大中華區銷售下降26%，在一定程度上造成蘋果十幾年來首次營收下降。
The disappointing sales figures were just the latest bad news out of China for the US group, at a time when the government has become increasingly restrictive towards foreign tech companies.
令人失望的銷售數字只是這家美國公司從中國傳來的最新壞消息，中國政府對外國科技公司的態度正變得越來越嚴厲。
Following the passage of new laws on internet content this year, Apple’s film and book services were blocked in April. And this month, the company lost a lawsuit against a Chinese group that uses the word “iPhone” on leather cases and accessories. Apple has also tussled with Beijing over data.
繼中國政府今年出臺新的互聯網內容管理規定後，蘋果的電影和圖書服務在4月被封殺。本月該公司又輸掉了一場商標搶注官司，無法阻止一家中國企業在皮套和皮革配件上使用“IPHONE”名稱。蘋果與中國政府還在數據方面有爭執。
Carl Icahn, the activist investor who had been one of Apple’s biggest shareholders, pointed to the company’s challenges in China as a key reason behind his decision to sell all his stock. He told CNBC a day after the disappointing results that Beijing could “come in and make it very difficult for Apple to sell there”.
維權投資者卡爾•伊坎(Carl Icahn)曾是蘋果最大股東之一。他指出該公司在中國面臨的挑戰是他決定出售所持全部股票的主要原因。他在蘋果發佈令人失望業績的次日對財經新聞頻道CNBC表示，北京方面可能會做出各種動作，“使蘋果很難在那裏銷售”。
Apple may hope to benefit politically from its alliance with one of China’s leading start-ups. “The policymakers in China have been more and more open,” said Jean Liu, president of Didi, in a media briefing on Friday. “There’s a very good foundation where we can help each other in many ways.”
蘋果可能希望藉助與中國領先的初創企業之一結盟，獲得政治上的優待。上週五，滴滴總裁柳青(Jean Liu)在新聞發佈會上表示，中國的政策制定者越來越開放，兩家公司有非常好的合作基礎，可以在很多方面互相幫助。
Apple’s investment in Didi, its first publicly disclosed funding of a transportation company, which valued the Chinese group at $25bn, underscores how the company is looking beyond hardware and toward services.
蘋果對滴滴的投資讓這家中國企業估值達到250億美元，這也是蘋果首次公開宣佈投資一家運輸公司，凸顯蘋果正尋求從硬件拓展進入服務。
Apple’s $3bn acquisition of Beats Electronics, the headphone maker and music service, in 2014, was instrumental in the launch of streaming service Apple Music a year later.
2014年，蘋果以30億美元收購了耳機制造商和音樂服務供應商Beats Electronics，一年後以那筆收購爲依託，推出了流媒體服務蘋果音樂(Apple Music)。
Meanwhile Apple has been working on a secretive car project, though the company has never publicly acknowledged this. Several of Apple’s recent acquisitions have been of small start-ups with technologies that could be useful in an intelligent car.
與此同時，蘋果一直在神神祕祕地推進一個汽車項目（該公司從未公開承認這個項目的存在）。在蘋果最近進行的收購交易中，有幾家小型初創企業的技術可以用於智能汽車。
Asked on Friday about whether Apple and Didi could go beyond ride sharing — to work jointly to develop their own smart or driverless cars, Ms Liu was coy. “We are confident that we will benefit each other on product, on technology, and on many other levels,” she said.
上週五，柳青被問及蘋果和滴滴會不會超越打車服務，合作開發它們自己的智能汽車或無人駕駛汽車，她不願明確回答，只表示：“我們相信彼此將在產品、技術以及其他許多層面上互惠互利。”
Ms Liu would not disclose specifics of how Apple and Didi would collaborate, but she said product integration, marketing and data science were possible areas.
柳青不願具體透露蘋果和滴滴未來將如何合作，但她表示可能的領域包括產品集成、市場營銷和數據科學。
Geoff Blaber, an analyst at CCS, says: “It’s about diversification into services and learning about what is becoming a very segmented automobile market.” As it gets into services, Apple will need to better understand local markets, he adds, and the Didi partnership could help.
CCS分析師傑夫•布拉韋爾(Geoff Blaber)表示：“關鍵在於多元化，進入服務領域，並瞭解正在變得高度割據的汽車市場。”他補充說，隨着蘋果涉足服務領域，它將需要更充分地瞭解當地市場，與滴滴的合作伙伴關係可能有幫助。
Didi has joined a strategic partnership with fellow Asian car hailing apps Ola in India, GrabTaxi in Southeast Asia, and Lyft in the US, in what some say has come to resemble a global coalition against Uber, Didi’s main competitor.
滴滴已經與印度的Ola、東南亞的GrabTaxi等亞洲打車應用企業，以及美國的Lyft結成戰略伙伴關係；有人說，這有點像抗衡優步（Uber，滴滴在中國的主要競爭對手）的全球聯盟。
Apple’s cash arrives at a crucial time for Didi, as it is locked in an expensive subsidy war with Uber China, as well as two other Chinese ride-sharing start-ups, Yidao and Shenzhou. Didi has raised more than $2bn from investors as part of this fundraising round, including the funds from Apple, bringing its total funds raised to more than $6bn.
對於滴滴來說，蘋果這筆現金來得正是時候，該公司正陷入一場昂貴的補貼大戰，另一方是優步中國(Uber China)，以及易到(Yidao)和神州(Shenzhou)兩家中國共乘應用初創企業。包括蘋果此次投資在內，滴滴在此輪融資中已從投資者籌得20多億美元，令其籌資總額提高到60多億美元。
Travis Kalanick, Uber’s chief executive, said he had heard of the Apple deal only on the day it was announced even though the companies worked together. “We have a partnership with Apple,” he says. “We have done so many things with them and continue to partner with Apple in ways that move the industry forward and get us excited.”
優步首席執行官特拉維斯•卡蘭尼克(Travis Kalanick)表示，自己是在蘋果宣佈消息當日才聽說這筆交易的，儘管兩家公司有合作關係。他說：“我們與蘋果有合作伙伴夥伴。我們與蘋果已經一起做了很多事，並將繼續與他們合作，推動產業前景，令雙方都爲此振奮。”
For Apple, a single investment in Didi is not going to make its challenges disappear overnight, particularly when it comes to privacy issues.
對蘋果而言，對滴滴的一次投資不會讓其面臨的挑戰一夜間消失，特別是涉及到隱私問題。
“Certainly their various services beyond hardware will continue to face a lot of pressure here,” says Mark Natkin, managing director at Marbridge Consulting in Beijing. He adds that privacy is a thorny issue for any foreign tech company. “If you are not very comfortable giving the government access to your data you can’t do business here.”
北京邁博瑞諮詢(Marbridge Consulting)董事總經理馬克•納特金(Mark Natkin)表示：“在中國，他們在硬件以外提供的各項服務肯定將繼續面臨很大的壓力。”他補充說，隱私對任何外國科技公司都是一個棘手的問題。“如果不願讓中國政府訪問你的數據，那你就無法在這裏做生意。”
At the same time, Didi is facing its own political challenges in China, as Beijing is preparing new regulations on ridesharing that could radically reshape its business. Those rules, first issued in draft form last October, are being revised and have come to be seen as a litmus test in the struggle between the government’s pro-innovation and conservative forces.
與此同時，滴滴自身在中國也面臨政治方面的挑戰，北京方面正在準備出臺針對打車的新法規，可能會徹底重塑其業務模式。這些規則（去年10月公佈了草案）正在進行修訂，它們已被視爲檢驗政府內部支持創新的力量與保守勢力之間較量的試金石。
While Didi already has the backing of China’s most powerful tech companies, including Tencent and Alibaba, which are both investors, the relationship between these tech giants and the state-owned sector has at times been an uneasy one.
雖然滴滴早已獲得中國實力最強大的科技公司——包括騰訊(Tencent)與阿里巴巴(Alibaba)，兩家公司都是滴滴的投資方——的支持，但這些科技巨頭與國有部門之間的關係有時也不是太和諧。
But the race for the Chinese ridesharing market continues. Didi says it is still fundraising for its current round, and has not yet disclosed who its other investors are.
但對中國打車市場的爭奪仍在繼續。滴滴表示，該公司仍在爲本輪融資籌集資金，目前尚未披露還包括哪些投資者。
Additional reporting by Charles Clover and Richard Waters
查爾斯•克洛弗(Charles Clover)、理查德•沃特斯(Richard Waters)補充報道
How is Didi likely to spend the $1bn from Apple?
滴滴將如何利用蘋果的10億美元投資？
Didi says the money will be invested in products and new technology. But some experts say it will be needed to fuel its battle with US-based Uber for market share in China, writes Charles Clover.
滴滴稱，將利用這筆資金投資產品和新技術。但是一些專家稱，這筆錢會被投入滴滴與總部位於美國的優步爭奪中國市場份額的競爭。
China’s car-hailing wars have seen both sides spend billions of dollars funding discounts for customers and subsidies to drivers.
在中國的打車服務之戰中，雙方均支出數十億美元向顧客提供折扣，向司機提供補貼。
In March Didi’s chairman, Cheng Wei, told the website QQ Tech that the company had set aside $4bn raised since last year to spend on what he called “market fostering”. It was not clear how much of it had already been spent, though estimates based on a financial presentation made last year suggest Didi could have lost $1.4bn last year mainly on subsidies. Uber lost $1bn last year in China according to chief executive Travis Kalanick.
3月，滴滴的首席執行官程維告訴騰訊科技，該公司已經留出了自去年以來融資的40億美元，用於他所謂的“市場培育”。這筆錢已經花費了多少不得而知，不過基於去年一份財務陳述的估計認爲，滴滴去年可能虧損了14億美元，主要用於補貼。優步首席執行官特拉維斯•卡蘭尼克表示，優步去年在中國虧損了10億美元。
Ge Jia, an influential tech blogger, says he believes Didi may be spending more on subsidies than it lets on — Didi is three or four times the size of Uber in China and drivers who work for both say the rate of subsidies is roughly the same. “Didi cannot afford to lower subsidies or that will just be surrendering its users to competitors.”
具有影響力的科技博主葛佳（音）稱，他相信滴滴在補貼上的花費或許超出了準備——滴滴的規模是優步的三到四倍，爲這兩家公司工作的司機稱，雙方的補貼率差不多一樣。“滴滴承受不起較低補貼，否則就會將自己的用戶拱手讓給競爭者。”
Didi will not disclose its financial losses but it said it was spending less on subsidies than Uber and was breaking even in more than half of the 400 cities it operated in. “Investors wouldn’t have shown such support had we not shown them a clear path towards profitability,” she said.
滴滴不會披露其財務虧損，但是一名發言人稱，它在補貼上的花費少於優步，同時其運營的400個城市中超過半數實現了收支平衡。“如果我們沒有給投資者呈現出一條明確的盈利路線的話，他們是不會表現出如此支持的，”她表示。
As for how Apple’s money will be spent, she added: “All investments are going to be focused in product and tech innovations as we see more and more cities pass the break-even point.”
至於蘋果的錢將如何花費，她補充稱：“隨着我們看到越來越多的城市實現收支平衡，所有投資將集中用於產品和科技創新。”
